Efficient room-temperature O-silylation of alcohols using a SBA-15-supported cobalt(II) nanocatalyst.

The O-silylation of OH groups of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) was achieved in high-to-excellent yields using catalytic quantities of a SBA-15-supported cobalt(II) nanocatalyst (typically 0.5 mol-%) at room temperature and under solvent-free conditions. Furthermore, the heterogeneous catalyst showed an excellent durability and can be conveniently reused by filtration for at least twelve times without any noticeable loss of activity.