Patent ID: 8367856

Claim:
A process for preparing silanes of the general formula (1), R a H b SiCl 4−a−b (1) said process comprising converting mixtures of silanes of the general formulae (2) and (3) R c SiCl 4−c (2) R d H e SiCl 4−d−e (3) where R is an alkyl radical having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a is 1, 2 or 3, b is 0 or 1, c is 1, 2, 3 or 4, d is 0, 1 or 2 and e is 0, 1 or 2, in the presence of an alumina catalyst which comprises, per 100 parts by weight of alumina, 1 to 10 parts by weight of aluminum chloride and 0.5 to 10 parts by weight of a metal oxide selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, copper oxide, zinc oxide and mixtures thereof, wherein the temperature is 180 degree C. to 370 degree C.