Organosilicon Reagents Synthesis and Applications - E-book - ePub

Organosilanes  have  gained  immense  recognition  worldwide  due  to  their plethora  of  roles  in  synthetic  organic  chemistry  in  carbon-carbon  bond  formationreactions. 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 isused in solar panels and high power lasers.