Trimethylsilane → 4-(1-Trimethylsilylhexyloxy)phenyl 4-(1-trimethylsilylbutyloxy)benzoate

0.35 g (0.01 mmol of Pt) of L.5% strength dicyclopentadienylplatinum dichloride solution in dichloromethane was added as catalyst to a solution of 5.00 g (9.71 mmol) of 4-(5-hexenyloxy)phenyl 4-(3-butenyloxy)benzoate in 10 ml of dichloromethane, and 2.02 g (27.2 mmol) of trimethylsilane were passed into the refluxing mixture over the course of 8 hours. After complete hydrosilylation of the olefin, the reaction mixture was flushed with nitrogen, and the dichloromethane was removed by vacuum distillation on a rotary evaporator. The crude product was purified by chromatography on silica gel, to give 4-(1-trimethylsilylhexyloxy)phenyl 4-(1-trimethylsilylbutyloxy)benzoate, phases: c 72 i.