The syntheses of 'mixed' polysilanes of molecular weights 1400 less than or equal to M(W) less than or equal to 8000 composed of N-methyl-2,5-pyrrolylene, dimethylsilylene and tetramethyldisilylene units are described. Poly[(dimethylsilylen)-N-methyl-2,5-pyrrolylene] 3 was prepared from N-methyl-2,5-dibromopyrrole and dimethyldichlorosilane, and poly[(tetramethyldisilylen)-N-methyl-2,5-pyrrolylene] 5 was obtained by Wurtz polymerization of N-methyl-2,5-bis(dimethylchlorosilyl)pyrrole 4. The 'mixed' polysilanes were characterized by size exclusion chromatography and by H-1 and Si-29 nuclear magnetic resonance and infra-red spectroscopies. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.