TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Hydrides: (II) are selected from:(1) binary ionic or non-volatile covalent hydrides of Group I-III non-transition or Group II transition elements, e.g. the hydrides of lithium (LiH), sodium (NaH), potassium (KH), rubidium (RbH), cesium (CsH), calcium (CaH2), strontium (SrH2), barium (BaH2), aluminum (AlH3) or zinc (ZnH2);(2) complex ionic hydrides of formula M(GH4)a (II'), preferably the borohydrides or aluminum hydrides LiBH4, NaBH4, KBH4, Mg(BH4)2, Ca(BH4)2, LiAlH4, NaAlH4, KAlH4, Li3AlH6, Li2NaAlH6, Mg(AlH4)2, Ca(AlH4)2 or Ba(AlH4)2; or(3) alkyl, alkoxy or dialkylamido hydride derivatives of formula M(GHzZ4-z)a (II''), e.g. lithium tri-(tert. butoxy)-aluminum hydride or potassium triethylborohydride.M = alkali(ne earth) metal;a = 1 or 2;G = B, Al, Ga or In, preferably Al or B;Z = R'', OR''or N(R'')2;R''= alkyl or aryl;z = 1-4.(II) are optionally used in the form of mixtures with other salt-like components, such as metal nitrides (especially Li3N, Mg3N2 or Ca3N2), metal amides (especially LiNH2, NaNH2, Mg(NH2)2 or Ca(NH2)2) or metal imides (e.g. Li2NH).    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Ionic Liquids: (I) are quaternary ammonium, phosphonium, arsonium or stibonium salts of formula (E+R1R2R3R4).(X-) (1).R1 - R4 = alkyl or aryl (optionally substituted by one or more OR5 or NR6R7); or two alkyl groups together complete a 5- or 6-membered ring of formula R1R2E(CYm)n (2) (preferably dialkylpiperidinium, dialkylpyrrolidinium or alkylpyridinium (in which case R2 is absent));m = 1 or 2;n = 4 or 5;Y = H, alkyl or aryl;R5 - R7 = alkyl or aryl;E = N, P, As or Sb;X = anion selected from halide, sulfate, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, hexafluoroarsenate, fluorosulfonate, R8OSO3-, R8(OCH2CH2)rOSO3-, ArOSO3-, R8SO3-, ArSO3-, (R8SO2)2N-, (ArSO2)2N-, (ArSO2)(R8SO2)N-, (R8SO2)3C-, phosphate or R8COO-; or a bis-chelatoborate or difluoro-chelatoborate of formula (L=B=L)- or (F2B=L)-;L = -O-CY1Y2-(CR9R10)p-CY3Y4-(CO)q-O-;(i) Y1 - Y4 = OR, R', H, F, Cl or Br;or CY1Y2 = C(O); andp, q = 0 or 1; or(ii) Y1 + Y2 = group completing a 5- or 6-membered aromatic ring (optionally containing N, O or S as heteroatom and optionally substituted by alkyl, alkoxy, COOH or CN) and Y3 and Y4 are absent;p = 0; andq = 0 or 1;r = 1-10;R8 = optionally mono- or polyfluorinated alkyl (preferably CF3, C2F5 or C3F7);Ar = optionally mono- or polyfluorinated aryl (preferably C6F5);R9, R10 = H, F, Cl, Br, -OR or R';R, R'= alkyl.(I) have m.pt. less than 200 degrees C (preferably less than 150 degrees C). SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - Use of 7 ionic liquids (I) is disclosed, i.e. trihexyl tetradecylphosphonium chloride ((Me(CH2)5)3P+(CH2)13.Cl-) (Ia); the bromide and bis-(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)-imide corresponding to (Ia); tetrabutylammonium bromide (n-C4H9)4N+.Br-) (Ib); methyl trioctylammonium bromide; and tributyl tetradecylphosphonium chloride and the corresponding bromide.    EXAMPLE - Trimethyl chlorosilane (Me3SiCl) was hydrogenated to trimethylsilane (Me3SiH) with lithium hydride (LiH) in presence of various ionic liquid solvents. LiH was dissolved in the solvent with stirring under nitrogen at or above room temperature (depending on the solvent m.pt.), followed by dosing with Me3SiCl over 5-300 minutes. The gaseous reaction products (e.g. Me3SiH) were recovered in a dry ice cold trap and analyzed. Typically Me3SiH was obtained in 38% yield after a reaction time of 20 minutes at 20-25 degrees C using trihexyl tetradecylphosphonium chloride (Ia) as solvent; or in 66% yield after a reaction time of 30 minutes at 120 degrees C using tetrabutylammonium bromide (Ib) as solvent. For comparison, 0% yield was obtained after 240 minutes at 110 degrees C using toluene as solvent.