Developing a Highly Active Catalytic System Based on Cobalt Nanoparticles for Terminal and Internal Alkene Hydrosilylation

This work describes the development of easy-to-prepare cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) in solution as promising alternative catalysts for alkene hydrosilylation with the industrially relevant tertiary silane 1,1,1,3,5,5,5-heptamethyltrisiloxane (MDHM). The Co NPs demonstrated high activity when used at 30 degrees C for 3.5-7 h in toluene, with catalyst loadings 0.05-0.2 mol %, without additives. Under these mild conditions, a set of terminal alkenes were found to react with MDHM, yielding exclusively the anti-Markovnikov product in up to 99% yields. Additionally, we demonstrated the possibility of using UV irradiation to further activate these cobalt NPs not only to enhance their catalytic performances but also to promote tandem isomerization-hydrosilylation reactions using internal alkenes, among them unsaturated fatty ester (methyl oleate), to produce linear products in up to quantitative yields.