Patent ID: 6894181

Claim:
A process for preparing organohalosilanes having the general formula (I): R 1 n (H) m SiX (4−n−m) (I) wherein R 1 is a monovalent hydrocarbon group, X is a halogen atom, n is an integer of 1 to 3, m is an integer of 0 to 2, and the sum of n+m is an integer of 1 to 3, by reacting metallic silicon particles with an organohalide in the presence of a copper catalyst, wherein a contact mass composed of the metallic silicon and the catalyst further contains an effective amount of a phosphine chalcogenide compound having in a molecule at least one group of the general formula (II): wherein R 2 and R 3 are each independently a monovalent hydrocarbon group or halogen atom, and Y is a chalcogen atom.