All chlorosilanes react with water to produce hydrogen chloride. The remaining hydroxyl group bonds to the silicon, initially forming a silol group (analogous to alcohol). In general, this will eventually bond to a solid oxide surface or react with another chlorosilane or silol molecule. In the latter cases, the oxygen atom forms a link between two silicon atoms, analogous to the ether linkage in organic chemicals, and identical to the bonding in silicon dioxide.

SiSiB® PC5030 is an intermediate in the production of ultrapure silicon in the semiconductor industry. Chlorosilanes obtained from crude silicon are purified by fractional distillation techniques and then reduced with hydrogen to give silicon of 99.999999999 % (11 nines) purity.