My Favorite Element: Silicon

摘要

The atomic symbol for silicon is Si and its atomic mass is28.0855. Silicon is found in Group IV of the periodic table ofelements, as is carbon. Historically, this close family relationshipto carbon has led many scientists to undertake the investiga-tion of organosilicon chemistry in the belief that a new realmof chemistry awaited discovery. They were absolutely correctin their belief! Just as Mark Twain was beginning his literarycareer (1863), Friedel and Crafts published the first synthesisof a silicon-carbon bond that opened a completely new branchof chemistry: organosilicon chemistry.