Low-valent main group catalysis under ambient conditions

Low-valent main group element compounds are typically air and moisture sensitive. Using these compounds as organic transfor-mation catalysts needs that the reactions be carried out under inert conditions. Given the growing demand for simple chemical pro-cesses, we looked for strategies that could be used to carry out these reactions simply under ambient lab conditions. We were able to accomplish this by employing an air and water stable germylene cation ([DPMGe][(HO)B(C6F5)3] (2). The dipyrrinate (DPM) ligand stabilized compound 2 catalyzes aldehyde and ketone hydrosilylations under ambient conditions.