Silanes

In organosilicon chemistry, silanes are a diverse class of charge-neutral organic compounds with the general formula. The R substituents can be any combination of organic 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 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., _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

Compound-specific applications are:

Polysilicone production
PEX crosslinking agent
Textile finishing industry
Dentistry
Integrated in battery materials to longevity
Construction materials