Organosilicon Compounds of Group I Elements

Abstract

The simplest compounds containing a bond between silicon and a Group Ia metal are the silicides. The first representative of this class of compound was described as early as 1902 by H. Moissan [964–966]. By fusing excess lithium with finely divided silicon at 500–600°C he obtained lithium silicide and investigated its properties. Depending on the reaction conditions and the ratio of the starting reagents it was possible to obtain the lithium silicides Li₂Si, Li₄Si, and a mixture of them, Li₆Si₂ [71, 564, 884, 942].