A novel and highly efficient method for the silylation of alcohols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) catalyzed by recyclable sulfonic acid-functionalized ordered nanoporous silica

Silylation of alcohols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) in dichloromethane provides the corresponding silyl ethers in almost quantitative yields at room temperature using 1-3 mol % of sulfonic acid-functionalized silica. Additionally, the catalyst displays a high activity and thermal stability (up to 240 °C) and it can be easily recovered and reused for at least 20 reaction cycles without loss of reactivity.