Organosilicon compounds radical species

Organosilicon compounds receive attack of nucleophilic, electrophilic, and homolytic reagents. The latter is related to the formation of radicals and divalent species. Organosilicon reactive intermediates corresponding to free radicals, carbenium ions, carbanions, and carbenes play important roles in these reactions. These are sUyl radicals, silylium... 

Thus most of the photochemistry of simple organosilicon compounds appears to involve radical cleavage to form silyl and carbon radicals. The role of radicals in silicon chemistry has been reviewed12,18. However, as will be seen below, when silicon-silicon bonds are present, a much richer and more complex chemistry is observed, since they are much more susceptible to cleavage by processes which lead to other reactive species in addition to silyl radicals. 

Reactive intermediates are species that are so kinetically unstable that they cannot be isolated or observed under normal conditions. In organic chemistry, the radicals (R3C ), carbanions (R3C ), carbocations (R3C ), and car-benes (R2C ) are the more-common intermediates. The area, and the resulting chemistry, is far richer in organosilicon chemistry, because many of the bonding situations that produce quite stable organic compounds are highly reactive when Si replaces C. 

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