Selective hydrosilylation of allyl chloride with trichlorosilane

The transition-metal-catalysed hydrosilylation reaction of alkenes is one of the most important catalytic reactions in the silicon industry. In this field, intensive studies have been thus far performed in the development of base-metal catalysts due to increased emphasis on environmental sustainability. However, one big drawback remains to be overcome in this field: the limited functional group compatibility of the currently available Pt hydrosilylation catalysts in the silicon industry. This is a serious issue in the production of trichloro(3-chloropropyl)silane, which is industrially synthesized on the order of several thousand tons per year as a key intermediate to access various silane coupling agents. In the present study, an efficient hydrosilylation reaction of allyl chloride with trichlorosilane is achieved using the Rh(I) catalyst [RhCl(dppbzF)]2 (dppbzF = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-3,4,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene) to selectively form trichloro(3-chloropropyl)silane. The catalyst enables drastically improved efficiency (turnover number, TON, 140,000) and selectivity (>99%) to be achieved compared to conventional Pt catalysts. Hydrosilylation of allyl chloride with trichlorosilane is industrially important but often proceeds unselectively. Here a Rh(I) catalyst which achieves 99% selectivity on gram scale is described, based on bidentate phosphine ligands.