A Commercially Viable Synthesis of Cyanotrimethylsilane

The important synthetic reagent cyanotrimethylsilane is readily formed by the direct trimethylsilylation of 3 equiv of hydrogen cyanide with 1 equiv each of trimethylchlorosilane and hexamethyldisilazane in a solvent-free reaction. This results in the formation of cyanotrimethylsilane in 98% yield. The product, which comes out of the reactor in 97.5% purity, does not require distillation. The process has been scaled to a level of 1780 lb in a single batch.