Trimethylsilyldiazomethane -: A mild and efficient reagent for the methylation of carboxylic acids and alcohols in natural products

Esterification of various naturally occurring carboxylic acids with trimethylsilyldiazomethane proceeds nearly quantitatively under very mild conditions. Furthermore, highly sterically hindered alcohols can be converted directly to the corresponding methyl ethers. Improved methods for the preparation and quantification of this reagent are described.