Facile Synthesis of α-Silyl Alcohols via Addition of Trimethylsilyllithium to Carbonyl Compounds.

α-Silyl alcohols serve as versatile building blocks in organic synthesis. Despite their broad utility, efficient methods for their preparation remain limited. Although the nucleophilic addition of silyllithium reagents acting as silyl anion equivalents to carbonyl compounds offers a straightforward route to α-silyl alcohols, detailed investigations on the preparation of highly basic and inherently unstable trialkylsilyllithium reagents, as well as the scope of compatible carbonyl substrates, remain scarce. In this study, we report an efficient and environmentally benign method for the generation of trimethylsilyllithium and demonstrate its application to the synthesis of α-silyl alcohols from a range of carbonyl compounds.