I read somewhere that a silane group will react with hydroxyl groups.
Does anyone know why this would happen?
I read somewhere that a silane group will react with hydroxyl groups.
Does anyone know why this would happen?
It is well known that silicon forms very strong bonds with oxygen (think sand, $\ce{SiO2}$). Hence, any time one can convert a $\ce{Si-H}$ bond into $\ce{Si-OH}$, it will happen.
I believe that silanes are extremely air sensitive due to the moisture content.
Hydroxyl radicals are strong proton acceptors, due to an oxygen with additional electrons, and will therefore abstract hydrogens from anything that has hydrogens, e.g., silane or methane. This attack can be enhanced, depending on the electronic properties of the atom sitting at the center (silicon or carbon). The more stable the atom, the more stable the 3-hydrogen radical will be, the more thermodynamically favorable the hydrogen abstraction reaction will be.
In the case of silane combustion, this leads to the formation of $\ce{^.SiH3}$ radicals, which react with molecular oxygen ($\ce{O2}$) in a chain-branching step. Depending on whether the temperature is low or high, this step can occur along various different pathways. It generally occurs following the reaction:
$$\ce{^.SiH3 + O2 -> Si(O)OH + H + H}$$
but the intermediates change depending on temperature and the energetics of the reaction.
You can find more information in a couple of papers: