Silicon Chemistry

The combined results from an international research project involving 40 interdisciplinary groups, providing the latest knowledge from the past few years. Adopting an application-oriented approach, this handy reference is a must-have for every silicon chemist, whether working in inorganic, organic, physical or polymer chemistry, materials science or physics.

Silicon and silicon compounds have contributed decisively to the technical progress. Technical applications range from mass commodities to highly sophisticated special materials, from ceramics to polymers, from medicine to microelectronics. To keep pace with scientific and technical developments Germany and Austria have established national priority programs, strongly linked to each other as well as to some Swiss groups. At mid-term of the German program and the end of the first funding period of the Austrian program the results are summarized in this special edition of the journal Monatshefte für Chemie/Chemical Monthly, giving an excellent overview of the current chemical (and partly physical) acitivites in the joint Austrian/German/Swiss program. The contributions cover topical and interdisciplinary developments in the following areas: • new phenomena in compounds with Si-Si bonds: transitions between molecular compounds and solids, cyclosilanes, polysilanes, silicides, amorphous hydrogenated silicon, • novel silicon-oxygen systems: functionalized sol-gel compounds, spherosiloxanes, siloxene, • compounds with low- and high-coordinated silicon, • new spectroscopic and analytical techniques for the characterization of molecular and polymeric silicon compounds.

The chemistry of silicon has always been a field of major concern due to its proximity to carbon on the periodic table. From the molecular chemist’s viewpoint, one of the most interesting differences between carbon and silicon is their divergent coordination behavior. In fact, silicon is prone to form hyper-coordinate organosilicon complexes, and, as conveyed by reports in the literature, highly sophisticated ligand systems are required to furnish low-coordinate organosilicon complexes. Tremendous progress in experimental, as well as computational, techniques has granted synthetic access to a broad range of coordination numbers for silicon, and the scientific endeavor, which was ongoing for decades, was rewarded with landmark discoveries in the field of organosilicon chemistry. Molecular congeners of silicon(0), as well as silicon oxides, were unveiled, and the prominent group 14 metalloid proved its applicability in homogenous catalysis as a supportive ligand or even as a center of catalytic activity. This book focuses on the most recent advances in the coordination chemistry of silicon with transition metals as well as main group elements, including the stabilization of low-valent silicon species through the coordination of electron donor ligands. Therefore, this book is associated with the development of novel synthetic methodologies, structural elucidations, bonding analysis, and also possible applications in catalysis or chemical transformations using related organosilicon compounds.

Pergamon Texts in Organic Chemistry, Volume 9: The Chemistry of Silicon presents information essential in understanding the chemical properties of silicon. The book first covers the fundamental aspects of silicon, such as its nuclear, physical, and chemical properties. The text also details the history of silicon, its occurrence and distribution, and applications. Next, the selection enumerates the compounds and complexes of silicon, along with organosilicon compounds. The text will be of great interest to chemists and chemical engineers. Other researchers working on research study involving silicon will also benefit from the book.

The organic compounds of silicon, which have been the subject of many scholarly researches during the past 80 years, at last show promise of emerging from the laboratory and finding a place in industry. An understanding of the behaviour of organosilicon materials is necessary to their intelligent use and, inasmuch as the chemistry of these substances ordinarily is not treated in our textbooks, it is possible that a compact yet comprehensive survey of our present knowledge in this field would be of service to chemists, engineers, and industrial designers. This volume has just such a purpose. The first few chapters review the silanes and their derivatives in some detail, in order to provide an understanding of the fundamental chemistry of the nonsilicate compounds of silicon. The later chapters emphasize the silicone polymers which have achieved commercial importance and deal with the methods for their preparation, their chemical and physical properties, and their possible uses. The processes available for large-scale production are treated separately, and a review of methods of analysis is included.

A comprehensive, up-to-date reference to synthetic applications of organosilicon chemistry Organic, organometallic, and polymer chemistry as well as materials science all utilize silicon in various forms, yet there is little cross-fertilization of ideas and applications among the disciplines. This book presents a much-needed overview of silicon chemistry, allowing fundamental and applied scientists to take full advantage of progress made within and outside their primary fields of expertise. With an emphasis on the preparation and reactivity of silicon compounds in organic, organometallic, and polymer chemistry, the author examines a broad range of useful topics-from mechanisms to syntheses of and syntheses using different organofunctional silanes. Numerous schemes as well as up-to-date examples from academia and industry will help readers to solve current synthetic problems and explore ideas for future research. Clear, concise coverage includes: * The mechanistic basis for the development of new silicon-based reactions * Formation and cleavage of silane reagents and functional siliconheteroatom compounds * Silicones, silica, polysilanes, and other silicon-containing polymers * Properties of molecules containing silicon, including bioactivity * Methods for the preparation of Si-C compounds * Silicon in organic synthesis * An extensive functional group index for easy access to functional group transformations

Efficient Methods for Preparing Silicon Compounds is a unique and valuable handbook for chemists and students involved in advanced studies of preparative chemistry in academia and industry. Organized by the various coordination numbers (from two to six) of the central silicon atom of the reported compounds, this book provides researchers with a handy and immediate reference for any compound or properties needed in the area. Edited by a renowned expert in the field, each chapter explores a different type of compound, thoroughly illustrated with useful schemes and supplemented by additional references. Knowledgeable contributors report on a broad range of compounds on which they have published and which are already used on a broad scale or have the potential to be used in the very near future to develop a new field of research or application in silicon chemistry. Includes contributions and edits from leading experts in the field Includes detailed chemical schemes and useful references for each preparative method Organized by the coordination numbers of the central silicon atom for each compound for easy navigation Serves as a go-to primer for researchers in novel compositions of silicon matter