Alkali metal silanides, R 3 SiM (R = alkyl, aryl, silyl) [1] are important reagents in the synthesis of compounds with silicon-silicon bonds, such as disilenes, [2] disilynes, [3] silicon clusters, [4] and oligosilane dendrimers. [5] In the solid state, the majority of these silanides form either solvated monomers, such as [R 3 SiM(donor) n ] (M = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs; donor = THF, TMEDA (N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine), DME (1,2-dimethoxyethane), C 6 H 6 , [18] [1f] Herein we report that lithium, sodium, and potassium derivatives of the new ligand Si(SiMe 2 OMe) 3 (trimethoxyhypersilanide) have very different structures, crystallizing as a result of strong coordinative interactions of the methoxy groups to the metal centers as clusters (K) or polymeric chains (Li, Na).[6] NMR spectroscopic investigations show that even in THF solutions, in which these aggregates dissociate into monomers, intramolecular oxygen-to-metal coordination is maintained.The synthetic route to the metal trimethoxyhypersilanides 4-6 is given in Scheme 2. Reaction of (Me 3 Si) 4 Si (1) with AlCl 3 and acetyl chloride furnishes (ClMe 2 Si) 4 Si (2) in 90-95 % yield. [7] Compound 2 was converted into tetrakis(methoxydimethylsilyl)silane, (MeOMe 2 Si) 4 Si, (3) in about 90 % yield by reaction with HC(OMe) 3 in the presence of catalytic amounts of AlCl 3 . Finally, the lithium, sodium, and potassium trimethoxyhypersilanides 4-6 were obtained upon treatment of MOtBu (M = Li, Na, K, respectively) with 3 in THF at room temperature. These reactions proceed smoothly to give 6 within about two hours, and 4 and 5 in about 10-12 hours, and were essentially quantitative according to NMR spectroscopic measurements. In contrast, the reaction of (Me 3 Si) 4 Si with NaOtBu or LiOtBu does not give the related hypersilanides (Me 3 Si) 3 SiLi and (Me 3 Si) 3 SiNa under similar conditions; no reaction occurred even after three days at room temperature.[8] Evidently, the methoxy groups of 3 significantly increase the electrophilicity of the silicon atoms of the SiMe 2 OMe groups and consequently facilitate selective Si À Si bond cleavage by nucleophilic attack of the tert-butoxide anion.The colorless trimethoxyhypersilanides 4-6 are surprisingly thermally stable. Upon increasing the temperature to 55 8C in [D 8 ]THF, no structurally irreversible changes, such as protonation, elimination of methoxide, skeletal rearrangements to metal siloxides, or condensation reactions to polysilanes, occurred. In the solid state, 4-6 began to decompose only above 200 8C, with formation of reddishbrown liquids. The solubility of 4 and 5 in organic solvents differs significantly from that of 6. The latter readily dissolves in THF and hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and nhexane, whereas the lithium and sodium derivatives are almost insoluble in benzene and n-hexane.The solid-state structures of 4-6 were determined by Xray crystallography, [9] and the results are shown in Figure 1-3 along with selected average bond lengths and angles in Table 1. Lithium silanide 4 (F...