Tetrakis (trimethylsilyl) tetrahedrane 3 has been synthesized upon irradiation of tetrakis (trimethylsilyl) cyclobutadiene 8, which can be prepared either by thermal nitrogen elimination from trimethylsilyl [1, 2, 3-tris (trimethylsilyl)-2-cycloprop-1-enyl] diazomethane 7 or by mild oxidation of cyclobutadiene dianion 9 with 1, 2-dibromoethane. The structural characterization of tetrahedrane 3 has been achieved by X-ray crystallography. The ...