Reactions of silylmercury compounds with sodium and potassium in the aromatic solvents

Bis(triethylsilyl)mercury (I) and triethylsilyl(pentaethyldisilanyl)mercury (II) react with metallic sodium or potassium in benzene solution to give phenyltriethylsilane (III) and a mixture of III and 1-phenyl-2,2,3,3,3-pentaethyldisilane, respectively, instead of the expected silylmetallic compounds (e.g. Et₃SiM and Et₅Si₂M, where M = Na or K). These results may be explained by the intermediate formation of silylmetallic compounds which reacted with the solvent. The reaction of I with potassium in toluene proceeds analogously.