In
organosilicon chemistry
Organosilicon chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds containing carbon–silicon bonds, to which they are called organosilicon compounds. Most organosilicon compounds are similar to the ordinary organic compounds, being colourless, fl ...
, silanes are a diverse class of charge-neutral
organic compound
Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...
s with the general formula . The R
substituent
In organic chemistry, a substituent is one or a group of atoms that replaces (one or more) atoms, thereby becoming a moiety in the resultant (new) molecule.
The suffix ''-yl'' is used when naming organic compounds that contain a single bond r ...
s can be any combination of organic or
inorganic
An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bondsthat is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemistry''.
Inor ...
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
Silane (Silicane) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a colorless, pyrophoric gas with a sharp, repulsive, pungent smell, somewhat similar to that of acetic acid. Silane is of practical interest as a precursor to elemental ...
, 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.
*
Chlorosilane
In inorganic chemistry, chlorosilanes are a group of reactive, chlorine-containing chemical compounds, related to silane () and used in many chemical processes. Each such chemical has at least one silicon-chlorine () bond. Trichlorosilane is pro ...
s have Si-Cl bonds. The dominant examples come from the
Direct process, i.e., (CH
3)
4-xSiCl
x. Another important member is
trichlorosilane ().
*Organosilanes are a class of charge-neutral
organosilicon compounds. Example:
tetramethylsilane
Tetramethylsilane (abbreviated as TMS) is the organosilicon compound with the formula Si(CH3)4. It is the simplest tetraorganosilane. Like all silanes, the TMS framework is tetrahedral. TMS is a building block in organometallic chemistry but als ...
()
By tradition, compounds with Si-O-Si bonds are usually not referred to as silanes. Instead, they are called
siloxanes
In organosilicon chemistry, a siloxane is an organic compound containing a functional group of two silicon atoms bound to an oxygen atom: . The parent siloxanes include the oligomeric and polymeric hydrides with the formulae and . Siloxanes ...
. One example is
hexamethyldisiloxane
Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO or MM) is an organosilicon compound with the formula O i(CH3)3. This volatile colourless liquid is used as a solvent and as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is prepared by the hydrolysis of trimethylsilyl chlori ...
, .
Applications
See compound-specific applications. Commonly:
* Polysilicone production
*
PEX crosslinking agent
See also
*
Silane quats
*
*
References
{{reflist
Silanes
Trimethylsilyl compounds
Carbosilanes