Five-, six- and eight-membered ring organosilicon chalcogenides of the types Z2(SiMe2)2E (Z = Me2Si, H2C; E = S, Se, Te), Z(SiMe2E)2MR2 (Z = Me2Si, H2C, O; E = S, Se, Te; M = Si, Ge, Sn, R = Me, Ph) and (SiMe2ZSiMe2E)2 (Z = Me2Si, H2C; E = S, Se)

Reactions of ClMe₂Si–Z–SiMe₂Cl (Z = SiMe₂ (1a), CH₂ (1c), O (1e)) with Li₂E (E = S, Se) yielded eight-membered ring compounds (SiMe₂ZSiMe₂E)₂ (3a–d) as well as acyclic oligomers (SiMe₂ZSiMe₂E)_x of different chain lengths. If 1:1 molar mixtures of 1a, 1c or 1e and a diorganodichlorosilane, -germane or -stannane (R₂MCl₂) are reacted with Li₂E (E = S, Se, Te), six-membered ring compounds Z(SiMe₂E)₂MR₂ (4a–7g) are formed exclusively. Five-membered rings Z₂(SiMe₂)₂E (Z = SiMe₂ (8a–c), CH₂ (9a–c); E = S, Se, Te) are obtained starting from the tetrasilane ClMe₂Si–(SiMe₂)₂–SiMe₂Cl (1b) or the disilylethane ClMe₂Si–(CH₂)₂–SiMe₂Cl (1d) by treatment with Li₂E. All products were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C, ²⁹Si, ¹¹⁹Sn, ⁷⁷Se, ¹²⁵Te, including coupling constants) and the effects of the different ring sizes towards NMR chemical shifts are discussed.