Silanes

Video clips depicting small scale spontaneous combustion/explosion of silanes gases with air. The silanes were generated a reaction of magnesium silicide (made by strongly heating magnesium and glass in absence of air) and dilute sulfuric acid.

SILANES - Brief info (updated 06/30/2010)

Silanes (also known as hydrosilicons) are compounds of silicon and hydrogen. These colorless gases evolved from the mixture consists of monosilane or silico-methane (SiH4), disilane or silico-ethane (Si2H6), and smaller amounts of trisilane or silico-propane (Si3H8) and hydrogen. They have peculiar, somewhat putrid 'earthy' smell (hard to describe but it's somewhat like earth and decaying leaves).

These are silicon equivalent of saturated hydrocarbons, alkanes, like methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), etc. However, they are much less stable than the alkanes and undergo explosive combustion in contact with air to form silicon dioxide or silica (SiO2) and water vapor, but some silicon may also be formed.

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