Methyl Silicon Chlorides: Methyl Chloride over Hot Silicon, Rochow 1945

Methyl chloride gas passed through a tube of powdered silicon at about 300 °C reacts directly with the silicon (Rochow, General Electric, US 2,380,995, 1945). The condensate is about half methyltrichlorosilane and a seventh dimethyldichlorosilane, which are separated by fractional distillation. These are the raw materials of all silicones. The picture: our diagram of tube, condenser and column.