Dehydrogenative silylation of terminal alkynes by iridium catalyst

Dehydrogenative silylation of terminal alkynes with hydrosilanes proceeds in the presence of iridium catalyst to afford the corresponding silylacetylenes. When phenylacetylene and triethylsilane were heated in dry DME in the presence of Ir4(CO)12–PPh3, (2-phenylethynyl)triethylsilane was obtained in 96% yield with little of hydrosilylated products. The present method is applicable for a variety of terminal alkynes and hydrosilanes to give the corresponding silylacetylenes in good yields with high selectivities.