The Mechanism of Formation via Radical Reactions

Different workers have carried out kinetic investigations on the thermal decomposition of SiMe in the gas phase. The first stage [39] is the reaction 

To explain how a compound forms with a Si—C skeleton it was necessary to include a second reaction 

SO as to have the necessary radicals present to build such Si—C—Si skeletons, thus enabling the subsequent formation of the basic molecular units according to 

The initial step of these reactions was unequivocally proved to proceed via cleavage of an Si—C bond producing methyl and silyl radicals [19, 20]. 

Of special significance is the isolation of the cyclic compounds 1,3-disilacyclobutane and 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane. Their formation is connected to the previously mentioned reactions by assuming that a further reaction occurs, 

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