Highly efficient and chemoselective trimethylsilylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) catalyzed by reusable electron-deficient [TiIV(salophen)(OTf)2]

Abstract

In the present work, highly efficient trimethylsilylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) catalyzed by high-valent [Ti IV(salophen)(OTf)2] is reported. Under these conditions, primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols as well as phenols were silylated in short reaction times and high yields. It is noteworthy that this method can be used for chemoselective silylation of primary alcohols in the presence of secondary and tertiary alcohols and phenols. The catalyst was reused several times without loss of its catalytic activity. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.