Hydrosilylation of alkynes catalyzed by ruthenium carbene complexes

Hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes with a variety of silanes catalyzed by Cl2(PCy3)2RuCHPh (1) affords mainly the Z-isomer via trans addition in excellent yields. The presence of a hydroxyl group in close proximity to the triple bond was observed to exert a strong directing effect, resulting in the highly selective formation of the α-isomer. Intramolecular hydrosilylation of a homopropargylic silyl ether was demonstrated to give the cis addition product.