Dehydrogenative coupling as an efficient route to ferrocene functionalized siloxanes

Ferrocene grafted siloxanes were prepared in high yields (∼79–97%) via Rh-catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling of a series of monomeric, polymeric, and cyclic hydrosiloxanes with ferrocenemethanol. Wilkinson’s catalyst was the most efficient of those surveyed (Karstedt’s catalyst, H2PtCl6, Co2(CO)8, 10% Pd/C, 10% Pt/C, 5% Rh/C) with respect to yield and selectivity. Benzene and toluene were better solvents than tetrahydrofuran and methylene chloride.