Soluble polymers and copolymers have been prepared from monosubstituted trichlorosilanes via thermal reductive coupling with sodium in toluene. Phenyltrichlorosilane has been copolymerized with methylphenyl dichlorosilane, with n-hexyltrichlorosilane, with tetrachlorosilane and with tetrakis(chlorodimethylsilyl)silane. n-Hexyltrichlorosilane has been copolymerized with methylphenyldichlorosilane, with phenyltrichlorosilane and with silicon tetrachloride. Soluble polymers and copolymers with molecular weight in the range approximate to 2,000 to approximate to 10(6) have been obtained. The absorption and emission spectra of the resulting polymers are strongly affected by the presence of trisilyl- and tetrasilylsubstituted silicon atoms.