Si-H activation of hydrosilanes leading to hydrido silyl and bis(silyl) nickel complexes.

A general route for the synthesis of novel NHC stabilized nickel bis(silyl) and nickel hydrido silyl complexes is presented. The reaction of [Ni(2)((i)Pr(2)Im)(4)(COD)] 1 ((i)Pr(2)Im = 1,3-di-isopropyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene) with hydrosilanes H(n)SiR(4-n) leads to complexes of the type [Ni((i)Pr(2)Im)(2)(SiH(n-1)R(4-n))(H)] or [Ni((i)Pr(2)Im)(2)(SiH(n-1)R(4-n))(2)].