An isolable iron(ii) bis(supersilyl) complex as an effective catalyst for reduction reactionsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental, crystallographic, and computational details, and crystal data for 1 and 2. CCDC 1884063 (1) and 1884064 (2). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c9dt00116f

An isolable 14-electron iron bis(supersilyl) complex, Fe[Si(SiMe 3 ) 3 ] 2 (THF) 2 , was successfully synthesized from the reaction of FeBr 2 with K[Si(SiMe 3 ) 3 ] and its structure was unambiguously determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The complex is coordinatively unsaturated and exhibits high catalytic activity toward the hydrosilylation of carbonyl compounds and the reductive silylation of dinitrogen. An isolable 14-electron iron bis(supersilyl) complex, Fe[Si(SiMe 3 ) 3 ] 2 (THF) 2 , was successfully synthesized, and catalytic performance toward reduction reactions was also demonstrated.