Silanes Explained

In organosilicon chemistry, silanes are a diverse class of charge-neutral organic compounds with the general formula . The R substituents can any combination of organic^[1] or inorganic groups. Most silanes contain Si-C bonds, and are discussed under organosilicon compounds. Some contain Si-H bonds and are discussed under hydrosilanes.

Examples

• Silane, the parent.
• Binary silicon-hydrogen compounds (which are sometimes called silanes also) includes silane itself but also compounds with Si-Si bonds including disilane and longer chains.
• Silanes with one, two, three, or four Si-H bonds are called hydrosilanes. Silane is again the parent member. Examples: triethylsilane and triethoxysilane .
• Polysilanes are organosilicon compounds with the formula . They feature Si-Si bonds. Attracting more interest are the organic derivatives such as polydimethylsilane . Dodecamethylcyclohexasilane is an oligomer of such materials. Formally speaking, polysilanes also include compounds of the type, but these less studied.
• Carbosilanes are polymeric silanes with alternating Si-C bonds.
• Chlorosilanes have Si-Cl bonds. The dominant examples come from the Direct process, i.e., (CH₃)_4-xSiCl_x. Another important member is trichlorosilane .
• Organosilanes are a class of charge-neutral organosilicon compounds. Example: tetramethylsilane

By tradition, compounds with Si-O-Si bonds are usually not referred to as silanes. Instead, they are called siloxanes. One example is hexamethyldisiloxane, .

Applications

See compound-specific applications. Commonly:

• Polysilicone production
• PEX crosslinking agent

See also

• Silane quats

Notes and References

1. Book: Elschenbroich, C. . [{{GBurl|B_-OCwAAQBAJ|pg=PR9}} Organometallics ]. Wiley . 3rd . 2016 . 978-3-527-80514-3 . 2006.