Benzyltrimethylammonium fluoride is a

quaternary ammonium In chemistry, quaternary ammonium cations, also known as quats, are positively charged polyatomic ions of the structure , R being an alkyl group or an aryl group. Unlike the ammonium ion () and the primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium cations ...

salt. It is commercially available as the hydrate. The compound is a source of organic-soluble

fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts typ ...

to removal of

silyl ether Silyl ethers are a group of chemical compounds which contain a silicon atom covalently bonded to an alkoxy group. The general structure is R1R2R3Si−O−R4 where R4 is an alkyl group or an aryl group. Silyl ethers are usually used as protecting g ...

protecting group A protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. It plays an important role in multistep organic synthesis. In many ...

s. As is the case for

tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride Tetra-''n''-butylammonium fluoride, commonly abbreviated to TBAF and ''n''-Bu4NF, is a quaternary ammonium salt with the chemical formula (CH3CH2CH2CH2)4N+F−. It is commercially available as the white solid trihydrate and as a solution in tetra ...

and most other

fluorides, the compound cannot be obtained in anhydrous form.

References

Quaternary ammonium compounds Fluorides Reagents for organic chemistry Benzyl compounds {{organic-chem-stub