Organosilicon Reagents Synthesis and Applications

by Jeevan Chakravarthy A.S.

Organosilanes have gained immense recognition worldwide due to their plethora of roles
in synthetic organic chemistry in carbon-carbon bond formation
reactions. The presence of silicon was initially predicted by Lavoisier in 1787. Attempts were made for
the extraction of pure silicon in elemental form but remained unsuccessful. Davy
proposed the name "silicium" in 1808, assuming the element to be a metal. An impure amorphous form of silicon was first
isolated by Gay-Lussac and Thenard in 1811, by heating potassium metal and silicon tetrachloride.
The present name of the element was given by Thomson in 1817, by retaining part of Davy's
nomenclature but adding "-on" as suffix, due to his belief that silicon
was a non-metal similar to boron and carbon. However, silicon in its crystalline form was first isolated by Deville in 1854, by electrolysis
of a mixture of aluminum chloride and sodium chloride containing about 10% silicon.
Today, pure silicon is obtained in industrial scale by reduction of silica with coke in electric
arc furnace. In small scales, silicon is obtained by the reduction of silicon tetraiodide,
silicon tetrachloride or chlorosilane.
Isolation of pure silicon is essential in industrial scales due to the importance of the element.
Pure silicon is obtained by zone melting method of purification. Some of the
applications of pure silicon include the preparation of electronics such as semiconductors,
transistors, printed circuit boards, and integrated circuits. Silicon is
used in solar panels and high power lasers.