Dedicated to Professor Hans Bock on the occasion of his 60th birthdayIn both physics and chemistry, increased attention is being paid to metal clusters. One reason for this attitude is furnished by the surprising results that have been obtained from studies of the preparation, structural characterization and physical and chemical properties of the clusters. Whereas investigations of cluster reactivity are at present generally limited to three-or four-membered clusters, successful syntheses of clusters with many more metal atoms have recently been designed. These substances occupy an intermediate position between solid state chemistry and the chemistry of metal complexes. This review presents a versatile method for synthesizing metal clusters: the reaction of complexes of transition metal halides with silylated compounds such as E(SiMe,)' (E = S, Se, Te) and E'R(SiMe3)2 (R = Ph, Me, Et; E' = P, As, Sb). Although some of the compounds thus formed have already been prepared by other routes, the method affords ready access to both small and large transition metal clusters with unusual structures and valence electron concentrations: a variety of reactions in the ligand sphere are also possible.