Hexamethyldisiloxane can be produced by the addition of trimethylsilyl chloride to purified water: It also results from the hydrolysis of silyl ethers and other silyl-protected functional groups.
[4] It reacts with rhenium(VII) oxide to give a siloxide:[5] HMDSO is used as an internal standard for calibrating chemical shift in1H NMR spectroscopy.
It is used in liquid bandages (spray-on plasters) such as cavilon spray, to protect damaged skin from irritation from other bodily fluids.
HMDSO is being studied for making low-k dielectric materials for the semiconductor industries by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD).
Following direct injection into tissues it has been used to generate maps of tumour and muscle oxygenation dynamics with respect to hyperoxic gas breathing challenge.