Experimental investigations of high-temperature kinetics of Si-precursor molecules relevant to CVD and ceramic processing are described. Reaction systems using SiH4, Si2H6, and SiCl4 highly diluted in argon were studied ina shock tube, a high-temperature wave reactor, by monitoring in situ the concentrations of atomic or radical reactants Si, H, Cl, SiH, and SiH2. Because of the very high dilution, the measured properties are sensitive to a limited number of elementary reactions, allowing a relatively direct determination of the respective rate coefficients. Both thermal pyrolysis and laser flash photolysis methods were used to expand the investigated temperature range. An overview of the bimolecular Si-atom reactions is given.