Iron Achieves Noble Metal Reactivity and Selectivity: Highly Reactive and Enantioselective Iron Complexes as Catalysts in the Hydrosilylation of Ketones

Chiral iron alkyl and iron alkoxide
complexes bearing boxmi pincers
as stereodirecting ligands have been employed as catalysts for enantioselective
hydrosilylation reactions with unprecedented activity and selectivity
(TOF = 240 h–1 at −40 °C, ee up to 99%
for alkyl aryl ketones), which match the performance of previously
established noble-metal-based catalysts. This shows the potential
of earth-abundant metals such as iron for replacing platinummetals
without any drawbacks for the reaction design.