Recoil tritium reactions with organosilicon compounds

A detailed examination of recoil tritium reactions with organosilicon compounds was made in order to determine what part chemical factors played in controlling hot reaction products. Also, the formation of some type of complex between silicon's 3d-orbitals and a tritium atom was considered in order to explain the exceptionally high reactivity of the Si-Si bound of hexamethyldisilane. The organosilicon compounds used in this study were dimethylsilane, trimethylsilane, tetramethylsilane, trimethylfluorosilane, dimethyldiflourosilane, methyltrifluorosilane, and hexamethyldisilane. Reactions of recoil tritium with dimethylsilane, trimethylsilane, and tetramethylsilane were carried out in pure single component systems and in two components competition systems with their corresponding member in the alkane family. From this study it was determined that dimethylsilane and trimethylsilane are respectively about 50 and 20% more reactive than their hydrocarbon counter parts; while the total reactivity of tetramethylsilane is approximately the same as that for neopentane. ..