The gas-phase reaction of (3-aminopropyl)dimethylethoxysilane (APDMES) with silica with and without amine catalysts has been studied using infrared spectroscopy. Evidence is provided that shows that the aminosilane initially adsorbs via hydrogen bonding of both ethoxy and aminopropyl moieties of the silane with the surface hydroxyl groups. As the reaction proceeds, the number of silane molecules attached to the surface via a Si-O-Si linkage increases primarily at the expense of the number of H-bonded ethoxy groups. The conversion is due to a catalytic process involving the aminopropyl end of gaseous APDMES molecules. On the other hand, the H-bonded aminopropyl groups are less reactive and only a small portion of these groups participates in Si-O-Si bond formation. At the end of the reaction there remain about 50% of the adsorbed APDMES attached by the H-bonded aminopropyl group. Attempts to block the adsorption of the aminopropyl end through the use of the more strongly H-bonded triethylamine proved unsuccessful. The use of preadsorbed triethylamine or 1 : 10 mixtures of triethylamine/APDMES accelerates the reaction but in the end leads to the same final distribution of products on the surface. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.