Quantum chemical study of the mechanism of ethylene elimination in silylative coupling of olefins

Silylative coupling of olefins differs from olefin metathesis. Although in both these reactions ruthenium catalysts play a crucial role and ethylene product is detected, ruthenium-carbene intermediate is formed only in the course of the metathesis reaction. In this study quantum chemical calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) have been carried out in order to examine the mechanism of the silylative coupling of olefins leading to ethylene elimination. In the first step of the catalytic cycle, a hydrogen atom from the ruthenium catalytic center is transferred preferentially to the carbon atom bound to Si in a vinylsilane. This H transfer is coupled with the formation of Ru-C bond. Next, the rotation around the newly formed C-C single bond occurs so that silicon atom is placed in the vicinity of the ruthenium center. The following step involves the migration of a silyl moiety, and leads to Ru-Si bond formation, coupled with ethylene elimination. The next reaction, that is the insertion of ethylene (alkene) into Ru-Si bond, has an activation barrier almost as high as the reaction of ethylene elimination. However, the posibility of removing gaseous ethylene from the reactive mixture together with the entropic fators suggests that the insertion of alkene that is larger than C2H4 is the rate limiting step in the silylative coupling of olefins. It also suggests that the substituents attached to the silicon atom or the carbon atoms of an alkene by electronic and steric effects may significantly affect silyl migration and thus the effectiveness of the catalytic reaction.