catalysts Article Biocatalytic Silylation: The Condensation of Phenols and Alcohols with Triethylsilanol Emily I. Sparkes 1,2, Chisom S. Egedeuzu 1,2 , Billie Lias 1,2, Rehana Sung 1, Stephanie A. Caslin 1,2, S. Yasin Tabatabaei Dakhili 1,2, Peter G. Taylor 3, Peter Quayle 2 and Lu Shin Wong 1,2,* 1 Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, UK;
[email protected] (E.I.S.);
[email protected] (C.S.E.);
[email protected] (B.L.);
[email protected] (R.S.);
[email protected] (S.A.C.);
[email protected] (S.Y.T.D.) 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK;
[email protected] 3 Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Silicatein-α (Silα), a hydrolytic enzyme derived from siliceous marine sponges, is one of the few enzymes in nature capable of catalysing the metathesis of silicon–oxygen bonds. It is therefore of interest as a possible biocatalyst for the synthesis of organosiloxanes. To further investigate the Citation: Sparkes, E.I.; substrate scope of this enzyme, a series of condensation reactions with a variety of phenols and Egedeuzu, C.S.; Lias, B.; Sung, R.; aliphatic alcohols were carried out. In general, it was observed that Silα demonstrated a preference Caslin, S.A.; Tabatabaei Dakhili, S.Y.; for phenols, though the conversions were relatively modest in most cases.