Selective hydrosilylation of styrene using an in situ formed platinum(1,3-dimesityl-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene) catalyst

A highly active and selective in situ formed platinum(N-heterocyclic carbene) catalyst for the hydrosilylation of styrene with triethylsilane is described, which unlike all other known hydrosilylation catalysts, selectively yields hydrosilylation products, but (almost) no dehydrogenative silylation products.