Carbon-coated mesoporous silica incorporating organoruthenium complexes and its application to hydrosilylation of 1-hexyne

The present article describes the construction of the organoruthenium complex catalyst within carbon-coated mesoporous silica and its application to a heterogeneous catalyst for hydrosilylation reaction. The carbon-coated mesoporous silica (C-MCM-41) was synthesized by carbonization of 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (DN) adsorbed on the surface of mesoporous silica, followed by the ligand exchange reaction between [(CH3CN)3RuCp]PF6 (Cp: cyclopentadienyl) and six-membered carbon ring at the surface of C-MCM-41 ([C-MCM-41-RuCp]PF6). X-ray absorption fine structure study for [C-MCM-41-RuCp]PF6 demonstrates that the structure of the constructed ruthenium complex is closely similar to that of a molecular [(C6H6)RuCp]PF6 complex. The [C-MCM-41-RuCp]PF6 behaves as a heterogeneous ruthenium complex catalyst and promotes hydrosilylation of 1-hexyne by triethylsilane in a solid–gas heterogeneous system to give α-vinylsilane as a major product.