“…Although silicon analogs of many pure carbon clusters (C n ) and acetylenic free radicals (C n H) have recently been characterized by high-resolution spectroscopy (1,2), only H 2 CSi, the silicon analog of vinylidene (H 2 CC:), has been reported in the gas phase (3,4). Because small silicon-bearing molecules such as SiS, SiC, and SiC 2 , and the cumulene carbenes H 2 C 3 (5), H 2 C 4 (6), and H 2 C 6 (7) are abundant in the circumstellar shells of evolved carbon stars (8), H 2 CCSi and longer silacumulenes are plausible candidates for astronomical detection.…”