Prepared quantitatively by the cleavage
of the silicon¨Csilicon bond of hexamethyldisilane with potassium hydride or potassium alkoxides (KOMe or potassium tbutoxide) (eqs 1 and 2). It can also be conveniently prepared by deprotonation of Me3SiH with KH (eq 3). These
procedures circumvent the need to handle volatile organomercury compounds that previous routes required.
