Dehydropolymerization of arylsilanes catalyzed by a novel silylmolybdenum complex

A complex [MoH3{Si(Ph)[Ph2PCH2CH2P(Ph)C6H4-o]2}](1) can act as single-component catalyst for dehydrogenative polymerization of ArSiH2R (Ar = Ph, p-tolyl, o-tolyl; R = H, Me) to (ArSiR)n: p- and o- tolylsilane produced the polymers of respectable molecular weights (Mw of 17300 and 6700 respectively) and polymerization of secondary silane, methylphenylsilane, gave a substantial molecular weight (Mw of 1750).