Si-H Bond Activation and Dehydrogenative Coupling of Silanes across the Iron-Amide Bond of a Bis(amido)bis(phosphine) Iron(II) Complex.

Despite the utility of Si-Si bonds, there are relatively few examples of Si-Si bond formation by base metals. In this work, a four-coordinate iron complex, (PNNP)Fe, is shown to strongly activate the Si-H bonds in primary silanes across the Fe-amide bonds in a metal-ligand cooperative fashion. Upon treatment with excess silane, Si-Si dehydrogenative homocoupling is shown to occur across the Fe-N bond without concomitant oxidation and spin state changes at the Fe center.