THE ALCOHOLYSIS OF TRICHLOROSILANE

In the conventional method of the alcoholysis of trichlorosilane, the hydrogen chloride liberated during the reaction catalyzes the cleavage of the Si—H bond leading to the formation of tetralkoxy silanes in very poor yields. In this work, the use of high concentration of petroleum ether in the reaction medium greatly facilitates the removal of hydrogen chloride and, thus, increases the yield of trichlorosilane to 95%. This method is also useful for the alcoholysis of other halosilanes.