dimethyldichlorosilane

Dimethyldichlorosilane is a tetrahedral organosilicon compound with the formula . At room temperature it is a colorless liquid that readily reacts with water to form both linear and cyclic Si-O chains. Dimethyldichlorosilane is made on an industrial scale as the principal precursor to dimethylsilicone and polysilane compounds.

==History== The first organosilicon compounds were reported in 1863 by Charles Friedel and James Crafts who synthesized tetraethylsilane from diethylzinc and silicon tetrachloride. However, major progress in organosilicon chemistry did not occur until Frederick Kipping and his students began experimenting with diorganodichlorosilanes () that were prepared by reacting silicon tetrachloride with Grignard reagents. Unfortunately, this method suffered from many experimental problems.