Electron‐deficient vanadium(IV) tetraphenylporphyrin: A new,highly efficient and reusable catalyst for chemoselective trimethylsilylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane

In the present work, the application of electron‐deficient tetraphenylporphyrinatovanadium(IV) trifluoromethanesulfonate, [V^IV(TPP)(OTf)₂], in the trimethylsilylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethydisilazane (HMDS) is reported. This new V(IV) catalyst was used as an efficient catalyst for silylation of not only primary alcohols but also sterically hindered secondary and tertiary alcohols with HMDS. Trimethylsilylation of phenols with HMDS was also performed to afford the desired Trimethylsilyl ethers (TMS) ethers. The chemoselectivity of this method was also investigated. This catalyst can be reused several times without loss of its activity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.