Organosilicon chemistry

[1] Extensive research in the field of organosilicon compounds was pioneered in the beginning of 20th century by Frederic S.

In recognition of Kipping's achievements, the Dow Chemical Company had established an award in the 1960s that is given for significant contributions to the field of silicon chemistry.

[5] In his works, Kipping was noted for using Grignard reagents to make alkylsilanes and arylsilanes and preparing silicone oligomers and polymers for the first time.

[2] In 1945, Eugene G. Rochow also made a significant contribution to the field of organosilicon chemistry by first describing the Müller-Rochow process.

Other important uses include agricultural and plant control adjuvants commonly used in conjunction with herbicides and fungicides.

[12][13] In the great majority of organosilicon compounds, Si is tetravalent with tetrahedral molecular geometry.

When geometry allows, silicon exhibits negative hyperconjugation, reversing the usual polarization on neighboring atoms.

[citation needed] The first organosilicon compound, tetraethylsilane, was prepared by Charles Friedel and James Crafts in 1863 by reaction of tetrachlorosilane with diethylzinc.

Other unsaturated functional groups — alkynes, imines, ketones, and aldehydes — also participate, but these reactions are of little economic value.

One classic method called the Flood reaction for the synthesis of this compound class is by heating hexaalkyldisiloxanes R3SiOSiR3 with concentrated sulfuric acid and a sodium halide.

Organosilicon compounds, unlike their carbon counterparts, do not have a rich double bond chemistry.

[25] Compounds with silene Si=C bonds (also known as alkylidenesilanes) are laboratory curiosities such as the silicon benzene analogue silabenzene.

They are the silicon analogs of cyclopentadienes and are of current academic interest due to their electroluminescence and other electronic properties.

Unlike carbon, silicon compounds can be coordinated to five atoms as well in a group of compounds ranging from so-called silatranes, such as phenylsilatrane, to a uniquely stable pentaorganosilicate:[32] The stability of hypervalent silicon is the basis of the Hiyama coupling, a coupling reaction used in certain specialized organic synthetic applications.

[33] Unstrained silicon-carbon bonds, however, are very strong, and cleave only in a small number of extreme conditions.

Organosilicon compounds affect bee (and other insect) immune expression, making them more susceptible to viral infection.