Silanes and their Derivatives

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Publisher Summary The silanes or “silicon hydrides” may be regarded as the silicon analogues of the paraffin hydrocarbons and form an analogous homologous series of compounds of the general formula Si.H2.+2. Just as one or more of the hydrogen atoms of paraffin may be replaced by other elements or groups so also can the hydrogen atoms of a silane are replaced either partly or completely by C1. N. 0. K organic groups etc. A very large number of silicon compounds, in which all the hydrogen atoms of a silane have been replaced by organic groups are known, and many of these are relatively complex. A large number of derivatives are also known in which hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a combination of alkyl and aryl groups and oxygen, viz., to give the “∼iloxanes,a∼ ∼c lass of compounds containing alternating –Si-O4i-O- linkages, which are commonly found in “silicone” polymers. If all the hydrogen atoms are replaced by a combination of oxygen and OX4 groups (M = a metal, e.g., Na, Ca) then glasses-complex metal silicates-are formed. If they are all replaced by oxygen then the result is Si02. It is not possible to include, in this chapter, the enormous number of organo silicon compounds, siloxanes, and silicates which are known. The discussion will instead be limited primarily to a description of the parent silanes and their simple derivatives.