Dodecamethylcyclohexasilane

Dodecamethylcyclohexasilane is the organosilicon compound with the formula Si6(CH3)12. It is one of the more readily prepared and easily handled polysilanes. Dodecamethylcyclohexasilane is produced by reduction of dimethyldichlorosilane with sodium-potassium alloy:
 * 6 (CH3)2SiCl2 + 12 M → Si6(CH3)12 + 12 MCl

where M is Na or K. The reaction also produces a polymer poly(dimethylsilylene) [\sSi(CH3)2\s]_{n} and a cyclic compound decamethylcyclopentasilane Si5(CH3)10.

The chair conformer of dodecamethylcyclohexasilane was confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Reactions
Dodecamethylcyclohexasilane reacts with potassium tert-butoxide to give the potassium derivative:
 * (CH3)12Si6 + KOC(CH3)3 → K(CH3)11Si6 + CH3OC(CH3)3