Binary silicon-hydrogen compounds

Silanes are saturated chemical compounds with the empirical formula SixHy. They are hydrosilanes, a class of compounds that includes compounds with Si−H and other Si−X bonds. All contain tetrahedral silicon and terminal hydrides. They only have Si−H and Si−Si single bonds. The bond lengths are 146.0 pm for a Si−H bond and 233 pm for a Si−Si bond. The structures of the silanes are analogues of the alkanes, starting with silane, SiH4, the analogue of methane, continuing with disilane Si2H6, the analogue of ethane, etc. They are mainly of theoretical or academic interest. Unsaturated comopunds are also known, where silenes have a silicon–silicon double bond and silynes a triple bond, analogous to alkenes and alkynes. Examples include disilene and disilyne. Several constitutional isomers of Si6H6 have been analyzed theoretically and been the object of synthetic efforts to compare the nature of the all-silicon silabenzene to benzene and its isomers.