Rhodium hydride enabled enantioselective intermolecular C-H silylation to access acyclic stereogenic Si-H.

Abstract

The tremendous success of stereogenic carbon compounds has never ceased to inspire researchers to explore the potentials of stereogenic silicon compounds. Intermolecular C-H silylation thus represents the most versatile and straightforward strategy to construct C-Si bonds, however, its enantioselective variant has been scarcely reported to date. Herein we report a protocol that allows for the enantioselective intermolecular C-H bond silylation, leading to the construction of a wide array of acyclic stereogenic Si-H compounds under simple and mild reaction conditions. Key to the success is (1) a substrate design that prevents the self-reaction of prochiral silane and (2) the employment of a more reactive rhodium hydride ([Rh]-H) catalyst as opposed to the commonly used rhodium chloride ([Rh]-Cl) catalyst. This work unveils opportunities in converting simple arenes into value-added stereogenic silicon compounds.