AbstractThe effect of temperature, water content, and the type of reagent on the silylation of fused silica capillaries was studied by29Si and13C CP‐MAS NMR. Fumed silica (Cab‐O‐Sil M5), which is essentially a highly dispersed vitreous quartz with a surface comparable to that of fused silica capillary columns, was selected as a model material.Hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and 1,2‐diphenyl‐1,1,3,3‐tetraphenyldisilazane (DPTMDS), which were used as silylation reagents, yielded trimethyl‐ and dimethylphenylsilyl surface groups respectively at lower temperatures (<350°C and<250°C respectively). At higher temperatures, increasingly more dimethylsilyl groups are formed, with the silicon bound to two oxygen atoms. This process occurs for DPTMDS at a considerably lower temperature than for HMDS. The formation of silyl groups on the surface and the disappearance of hydroxyl groups are followed independently. The13C NMR and GC‐MS of the reaction products showed that with DPTMDS, the formation of two Si‐O‐Si links is accompanied by a loss of phenyl groups rather than of methyl groups.After the Cab‐O‐Sil had been dried over P2O5, the formation of these double links occurred for HMDS only at temperatures above 460°C and for DPTMDS at 400°C. Thus we concluded that water supplies oxygen atoms for double Si‐O‐Si links (possibly crosslinks) necessary for efficient deactivation. This may explain the less successful silanization of fused silica capillaries because their water content is lower