Process for the preparation of hexaalkyldisilane

A process for the preparation of hexaalkyldisilane comprising the step of contacting

• (a) a trialkylsilane halide of the formula (I) ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3, which may be identical or different, represent an alkyl group containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms and X represents Cl, Br or I, with
• (b) an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of Na, Li and K and with
• (c) a salt M.sup.+ A.sup.-,
• wherein A.sup.- represents an anion selected from the group consisting of Cl.sup.-, Br.sup.-, I.sup.-, CN.sup.-, SCN.sup.-, RS.sup.-, C.sub.6 H.sub.4 O.sup.- and RO.sup.-, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and
• M.sup.+ represents a cation selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal cation, a CH.sub.3 cation, and a quaternary ammonium cation,
• (d) in a solvent selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and
• (e) in the presence of a phase transfer agent of the formula (II):
• N[--CHR.sub.1 --CHR.sub.2 --O--(CHR.sub.3 --CHR.sub.4 --O).sub.n --R.sub.5 ].sub.3 (II)
• wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to approximately 10 (0.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.10), R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4, which may be identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms and R.sub.5 represents an alkyl or cycloalkyl radical containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms, a phenyl radical or a radical of the formula --C.sub.m H.sub.2m --.phi. or C.sub.m H.sub.2m+1 --.phi.--, m ranging from 1 to approximately 12.