The straightforward synthesis of a new unsymmetrical hydroxy-tethered N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand, HL, is presented. The free ligand exhibits an unusual OH-carbene hydrogen-bonding interaction. This OH-carbene motif was used to yield 1) the first tantalum complex displaying both a Fischer- and Schrock-type carbene ligand and 2) a unique NHC-based early/late heterobimetallic complex. More specifically, the protonolysis chemistry between the ligand's hydroxy group and imido-alkyl or alkylidene-alkyl tantalum precursor complexes yielded the rare monometallic tantalum-NHC complexes [Ta(XtBu)(L)(CH tBu) ] (X=N, CH), in which the alkoxy-carbene ligand acts as a chelate. In contrast, HL only binds to rhodium through the NHC unit in [Rh(HL)(cod)Cl] (cod=cycloocta-1,5-diene), the hydroxy pendant arm remaining unbound. This bifunctional ligand scaffold successfully promoted the assembly of rhodium/tantalum heterobimetallic complexes upon either 1) the insertion of [Rh(cod)Cl] into the Ta-NHC bond in [Ta(NtBu)(L)(CH tBu) ] or 2) protonolysis between the free hydroxy group in [Rh(HL)(cod)Cl] and one alkyl group in [Ta(NtBu)(CH tBu) ].

This work describes the development of easy to prepare cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) in solution as promising alternative catalysts for alkene hydrosilylation with the industrially relevant tertiary silane MD H M (1,1,1,3,5,5,5-heptamethyltrisiloxane). The Co NPs demonstrated high activity when used at 30 °C for 3.5-7 h in toluene, with catalyst loadings 0.05-0.2 mol%, without additives. Under these mild conditions, a set of terminal alkenes were found to react with MD H M, yielding exclusively the anti-Markovnikov product in up to 99% yields. Additionally, we demonstrated the possibility of using UV irradiation to further activate these cobalt NPs in order to enhance their catalytic performances, but also to promote tandem isomerization-hydrosilylation reactions using internal alkenes, among them unsaturated fatty ester (methyl oleate), to produce linear products in up to quantitative yields.