Organosilicon- and organogermanium-based ligands as key components of iron complexes with characteristic reactivity patterns

Abstract In this account, an overview of the synthesis and catalytic properties of iron complexes supported by organosilicon- or organogermanium-based ligands is summarized. First, the synthesis of iron complexes supported by chelating disilyl ligands and their good catalytic performance in several reactions, such as hydrogenations and hydrosilylations, are described, followed by the direct synthesis of coordinatively unsaturated iron-disilyl and -digermyl complexes and their catalytic applications, including hydrogen production and storage. Moreover, C=O bond cleavage induced by iron-disilyl complex to afford iron-carbene complexes and the synthesis of iron complexes supported by silacycle-bridged biaryl-based ligands that show a unique hapticity change upon reduction are discussed.