ZrCl4 which is commercially available and not a costly compound, is a relatively safe chemical [LD50 [ZrCl4, oral rat] = 1688 mg Kg]. In this report we describe the use of ZrCl4 dispersed on dry silica gel as an efficient reagent for the efficient preparation of thioethers from thiols with alcohols under solvent-free conditions. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.