Silane

Silane, also known as silicon hydride, is a compound only contains silicon and hydrogen these two elements. There is the simplest representation of Silane such as Monosilane (SiH4), disilane (Si2H6), etc. And in the aspect of composition, structure and physical properties，there is a lot of similarities but also some differences. Silane is only containing homologues with a few silicon atoms. It is now known as a fact that the longest chain is Si6H14. Its chemical character is more active than alkane, for it’s easy for Si-H bond to break than the C-H bond. Because Si-H bond has not good heat-stability, it can be decomposed into silicon and hydrogen, and because of the big molecular weight, it lose its stability. SiH4 and Si2H6 are easy to spontaneous combustion in the air to produce water and SiO2, and also very easy to be hydrolyzed by alkali solution.

Alkyl-substituted silence possesses good thermal stability. For instance, (CH3)4Si not spontaneously ignite in air. At room temperature, the chemical reaction between silane and halogen would be processed by way of explosion. In the presence of a catalyst, silane is capable of generating hydrogen halide with a halogenating effect. However, it’s very difficult to synthesize silane, and it is still in the theoretical stage.

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