A simple and efficient room temperature silylation of diverse functional groups with hexamethyldisilazane using CeO2 nanoparticles as solid catalysts

Abstract In this study, a mild and efficient method is developed for the silylation of diverse functional groups using CeO2 nanoparticles (n-CeO2) as solid catalysts with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) as silylating agent at room temperature. Alcohols, phenols and acids are silylated to their respective silyl derivatives with faster reaction rate while amines and thiols required relatively longer reaction time. Moreover, the solid catalyst is easily be separated from the reaction mixture and recycled more than five times without any obvious decay in its activity. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS) and Raman analyses revealed identical structural integrity, particle size, absorption edge and valence state for the reused solid compared to the fresh solid catalyst.