Iron-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrosilylation of Vinylcyclopropanes via Stereospecific C-C Bond Cleavage.

An iron-catalyzed highly anti-Markovnikov selective, enantioselective hydrosilylation of vinylcyclopropanes with PhSiH was reported for the preparation of valuable chiral allylic silanes via stereospecific C-C bond cleavage. Simultaneously, difficultly prepared chiral VCPs could be also obtained with moderate to excellent enantioselectivity via this kinetic resolution pathway. The chiral Z-allylic silanes could be converted to various chiral allylic derivatives. A possible mechanism via an iron-silyl species was proposed based on experimental and computational studies.