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The electronic structure of a dimeric manganese hydride catalyst supported by β-diketiminate ligands, [( 2,6-iPr2Ph BDI)Mn(μ-H)] 2 , was investigated with density functional theory. A triple bond between the manganese centres was anticipated from simple electron-counting rules; however, calculations revealed Mn–Mn Mayer bond orders of 0.21 and 0.27 for the ferromagnetically-coupled and antiferromagnetically-coupled extremes, respectively. In accordance with experimentally determined Heisenberg exchange coupling constants of −15 ± 0.1 cm −1 (SQUID) and −10.2 ± 0.7 cm −1 (EPR), the calculated J 0 value of −10.9 cm −1 confirmed that the ground state involves antiferromagnetic coupling between high spin Mn( ii )-d 5 centres. The effect of steric bulk on the bond order was examined via a model study with the least sterically-demanding version of the β-diketiminate ligand and was found to be negligible. Mixing between metal- and β-diketiminate-based orbitals was found to be responsible for the absence of a metal–metal multiple bond. The bridging hydrides give rise to a relatively close positioning of the metal centres, while bridging atoms possessing 2p orbitals result in longer Mn–Mn distances and more stable dimers. The synthesis and characterization of the bridging hydroxide variant, [( 2,6-iPr2Ph BDI)Mn(μ-OH)] 2 , provides experimental support for these assessments. 

The manganese hydride dimer, [( 2,6-iPr2Ph BDI)Mn(μ-H)] 2 , was found to mediate nitrile dihydroboration, rendering it the first manganese catalyst for this transformation. Stoichiometric experiments revealed that benzonitrile insertion affords [( 2,6-iPr2Ph BDI)Mn(μ-NCHC 6 H 5 )] 2 en route to N , N -diborylamine formation. Density functional theory calculations reveal the precise mechanism and demonstrate that catalysis is promoted by monomeric species. 

The synthesis of alkylphosphine-substituted α-diimine (DI) ligands and their subsequent addition to Ni(COD) 2 allowed for the preparation of ( iPr2PPr DI)Ni and ( tBu2PPr DI)Ni . The solid state structures of both compounds were found to feature a distorted tetrahedral geometry that is largely consistent with the reported structure of the diphenylphosphine-substituted variant, ( Ph2PPr DI)Ni . To explore and optimize the synthetic utility of this catalyst class, all three compounds were screened for benzaldehyde hydrosilylation activity at 1.0 mol% loading over 3 h at 25 °C. Notably, ( Ph2PPr DI)Ni was found to be the most efficient catalyst while phenyl silane was the most effective reductant. A broad scope of aldehydes and ketones were then hydrosilylated, and the silyl ether products were hydrolyzed to afford alcohols in good yield. When attempts were made to explore ester reduction, inefficient dihydrosilylation was noted for ethyl acetate and no reaction was observed for several additional substrates. However, when an equimolar solution of allyl acetate and phenyl silane was added to 1.0 mol% ( Ph2PPr DI)Ni , complete ester C–O bond hydrosilylation was observed within 30 min at 25 °C to generate propylene and PhSi(OAc) 3 . The scope of this reaction was expanded to include six additional allyl esters, and under neat conditions, turnover frequencies of up to 990 h −1 were achieved. This activity is believed to be the highest reported for transition metal-catalyzed ester C–O bond hydrosilylation. Proposed mechanisms for ( Ph2PPr DI)Ni -mediated carbonyl and allyl ester C–O bond hydrosilylation are also discussed. 

A (BDI)Mn catalyst has been found to hydrosilylate olefins and the observed selectivity can be attributed to alkene insertion.