Selective reduction of carbon dioxide to bis(silyl)acetal catalyzed by a PBP-supported nickel complex.

The selective reduction of CO2 to the formaldehyde level remains an important challenge and to date only a few catalysts have been developed for this reaction. Herein, we report an efficient catalyst that consists of a bis(phosphino)boryl nickel hydride complex in combination with B(C6F5)3, for the highly selective hydrosilation of CO2 to bis(silyl)acetal derivatives.