The reactions of bridged tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl fragments with 2 molar equiv of potassium
tert-butoxide allow the generation of
,
-oligosilyl dianions (
1a,
2a,
3a,
4a). Depending onthe nature of the spacer between the oligosilyl units, these compounds can be used to generateeither linear or cyclic derivatives. They are especially attractive for the formation of homo-and heterocyclosilanes, as exemplified by the synthesis of sila-, stanna-, and zirconocenacyclosilanes. A linear bis(potassiumsilyl)acetylene (
4a) was used to bridge two zirconoceneunits, (Cp
2Zr(Cl)Si(SiMe
3)
2CCSi(SiMe
3)
2Zr(Cl)Cp
2) (
11).