Mild and efficient silylation of alcohols and phenols with HMDS using Bi(OTf)3 under solvent-free condition

A very efficient and mild silylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) at rt is developed using Bi(OTf)3 as the catalyst. Primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols as well as phenols are excellently converted into corresponding TMS ethers in a very short reaction time. This procedure can also be applied to large scale silylation for industrial application.

Graphical abstractA very efficient and mild silylation of alcohols and phenols with (Me3Si)2NH at rt is developed using Bi(OTf)3 as the catalyst. Variety of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols and phenols produce corresponding silylether in excellent yield. This reaction may require the lowest catalyst quantity and relatively short reaction time of all the previous studies in recent years.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide