1,2-Bis(dimaltolphosphino)ethane “Malt4Phos2”: A new phosphonite chelate ligand and corresponding platinum catalyzed styrene hydrosilylation activity

Via a one pot reaction new chelating maltol-based phosphonite ligands “Malt4Phos2” 1 and “etMalt4Phos2” 2 and their corresponding platinum dichloride complexes 3 and 4 have been synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Solid state structures revealed intriguing differences as 3 has five water molecules within the unit cell creating a small hydrogen bonding network, while 4 exhibits inter-catalyst π stacking effects. The catalytic hydrosilylation potential of 3 and 4 was investigated using styrene and phenyldimethylsilane displaying competitive activity with currently available catalysts.