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 HnSiR4-n leads to complexes of the type [Ni((i)Pr(2)Im)(2)(SiHn-1R4-n)(H)] or [Ni((i)Pr(2)Im)(2)(SiHn-1R4-n)(2)].