Abstract
A systematic account is given of data published up to 1975 on the preparation and chemical properties of silicon analogues of carbenes – short-lived bivalent silicon compounds (silylenes). Methods for their formation with the aid of high temperatures as well as other sources of energy (silent electric discharge, photolysis, and radiolysis) are discussed.
The chemical properties of silylenes have been classified in accordance with three types: (1) polymerisation; (2) insertion in single bonds; (3) addition to multiple bonds. The possibility of employing silylenes (particularly dichlorosilylene) for preparative purposes is discussed. Attention has been concentrated on experimental data relevant to the gas-phase reactions of silylenes.
The bibliography includes 299 references.