Platinum Catalysis Revisited—Unraveling Principles of Catalytic Olefin Hydrosilylation

Hydrosilylation of C–C multiple bonds is one of the most important applications of homogeneous catalysis in industry. The reaction is characterized by its atom-efficiency, broad substrate scope, and widespread application. To date, industry still relies on highly active platinum-based systems that were developed over half a century ago. Despite the rapid evolution of vast synthetic applications, the development of a fundamental understanding of the catalytic reaction pathway has been difficult and slow, particularly for the industrially highly relevant Karstedt's catalyst. A detailed mechanistic study unraveling several new aspects of platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation using Karstedt's catalyst as platinum source is presented in this work. A combination of 2H-labeling experiments, 195Pt NMR studies, and an in-depth kinetic study provides the basis for a further development of the well-established Chalk–Harrod mechanism. It is concluded that the coordination strength of the olefin exerts a decisive effect on the kinetics of the reaction. In addition, it is demonstrated how distinct structural features of the active catalyst species can be derived from kinetic data. A primary kinetic isotope effect as well as a characteristic product distribution in deuterium-labeling experiments lead to the conclusion that the rate-limiting step of platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation is in fact the insertion of the olefin into the Pt–H bond rather than reductive elimination of the product in the olefin/silane combinations studied.