D.A. de Vekki1 and N.K. Skvortsov2 METAL COMPLEX CATALYZED HYDROSILYLATION OF VINYL- WITH HYDROSILOXANES (A REVIEW) St. Petersburg State Institute of Technology (Technical University), Moskovskii pr. 26, St. Petersburg, 190013 Russia Key words: Hydrosilylation, hydrosiloxanes, vinylsiloxanes, platinum, rhodium, catalyst, photoactivation. <...> The hydrosilylation reaction, i.e. the reaction between unsaturated compounds and silicon hydrides, was first mentioned in 1947 as an example of the reaction of trichlorisilane and 1-octene in the presence of acetyl peroxide [1]. <...> In 1957 Speier et al. [2] discovered one of the most efficient homogeneous metal complex catalysts of this reaction, viz. chloroplatinic acid, which was given the name the Speier’s catalyst. <...> As a result, organosiloxanes with different structrures and properties have been synthesized, and also new efficient catalysts, such as the Karstedt [vinylsiloxane complexes of Pt(0)] [3] Si O Si H + H C2 CH Si O Si The reaction route is affected, along with common factors (reagent concentrations, reaction temperature and time, solvent nature, etc.), by such specific factors as the type of the catalyst and the structure of the unsaturated and hydrogencontaining organosilicon compound. <...> The overwhelming part of early research on hydrosilylation in siloxane systems was based on the catalysis either with chloroplatinic acid and its modifications or with vinylsiloxane complexes of Pt(0). <...> Therewith, the greatest contribution into the synthesis of new organosilicon compounds was made by the research group of Acad. K.A. Andrianov. <...> Certain researchers compared their proposed catalysts with the Speier’s or Karstedt’s catalysts; siloxane activity studies were also reported. <...> Zhdanov et al. [24] synthesized branched polyorganocyclocarbosiloxanes by the addition of tetramethylcyclosiloxane catalyst Si O Si CH2 CH2 Si O Si addition [Н(СН3)SiO]4 and tetraphenylcyclosiloxane [H(C6H5)SiO]4 to trimethyltrivinylcyclotrisiloxane [CH3(CH2=CH)SiO]3, tetramethyltetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane [CH3(CH2=CH)SiO]4, triphenyltrivinylcyclotrisiloxane [C6H5(CH2=CH)SiO]3, and tetraphenyltetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane [C6H5(CH2=CH)SiO]4 in ampules in the presence of H2PtCI6 g/g mixture as a 0.01 N THF solution) [24]. <...> Andrianov et al. [25] proposed to perform hydrosilylation of 1-vinyl-1,3,3,5,5,7,7-heptamethylcyclotetrasiloxane <...>