Direct synthesis of methyldimethoxysilane from metallic silicon and methanol using copper(I) chloride catalyst

When the reaction of metallic silicon with methanol in the presence of a sm all amount of thiophene was carried out at 653 K, methyldimethoxysilane was formed together with trimethoxysilane and tetramethoxysilane, the selectiv ity for methyldimethoxysilane:being 22%. Further adding a small amount of t rioxane, trimer of formaldehyde, to the reaction system improved the select ivity for methyldimethoxysilane. This indicates that formaldehyde formed by the dehydrogenation of methanol takes part in methyldimethoxysilane format ion. The reaction of silicon with ethanol also gave a 14% selectivity of et hyldiethoxysilane with a 43% silicon conversion. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.