A convenient and general iron-catalyzed hydrosilylation of aldehydes

A general and highly chemoselective hydrosilylation of aldehydes using iron catalysts is reported. Fe(OAc)2 in the presence of tricyclohexylphosphine as ligand and polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) as an economical hydride source forms an efficient catalyst system for the hydrosilylation of a variety of aldehydes. Aryl, heteroaryl, alkyl and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes are successfully reduced to the corresponding primary alcohols. Broad substrate scope and high tolerance against several functional groups make the process synthetically useful.