Polystyrene‐Gallium Trichloride Complex: A Mild,Highly Efficient,and Recyclable Polymeric Lewis Acid Catalyst for Chemoselective Silylation of Alcohols and Phenols with Hexamethyldisilazane

Polystyrene‐supported gallium trichloride (PS/GaCl₃) as a highly active and reusable heterogeneous Lewis acid effectively activates hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) for the efficient silylation of alcohols and phenols at room temperature. In this heterogeneous catalytic system, primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols as well as phenols were converted to their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers with short reaction times and high yields under mild reaction conditions. The heterogenized catalyst is of high reusability and stability in the silylation reactions and was recovered several times with negligible loss in its activity or a negligible catalyst leaching, and also there is no need for regeneration. It is noteworthy that this method can be used for chemoselective silylation of different alcohols and phenols with high yields.