Photoactivated Silicon–Oxygen and Silicon–Nitrogen Heterodehydrocoupling with a Commercially Available Iron Compound

Si–O and Si–N heterodehydrocoupling catalyzed by the commercially available iron dimer (1) under photochemical conditions is reported. Mechanistic study reveals that the most immediate hurdle in the catalysis is the poor activation of 1, demonstrating the necessity to fully activate the catalyst to realize the potential of iron in this reactivity.