Tetramethyl orthosilicate as a sharp-selective catalyst of C3-methylation of indole by supercritical methanol

Methylation reaction of indole was studied in supercritical methanol (350 °C, 215 atm) catalyzed by TMOS and TEOS. Use of both orthosilicates shows the same result of indole methylation. The indole conversion is ∼30% for 5 h of the reaction with and without catalysts. But catalytic reaction is more high-selective on 3-methyl-1H-indole formation – 95–96 mol% against 60 mol% for non-catalytic methylation. Indole conversion in catalytic reaction increases by a quarter (with no change of selectivity) when two equivalents of water are added into reaction mixture. Methylating system was assumed to be the TMOS–MeOH, and methylation proceeds via cyclic, multi-centered transition state (TS). The TS involves molecules of indole, TMOS, methanol, and water (if used), which are orientated in a certain way to each other by hydrogen and coordinate bonding. The reaction does not occur in supercritical ethanol or isopropanol with and without using the catalysts.