A new series of azole derivatives containing silicon were synthesized and evaluated for fungicidal activity against rice sheath blight by submerged application. Among them, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(1H-1, 2, 4-triazol-1-yl)-3-trimethylsilylpropan-2-ol (9a) exhibited satisfactory efficacy at 12.5 grams per 10 ares.
Compounds of the formula I, II, III and IIIa ##STR1## in which Ar.sup.1 is an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic radical and at least one of the radicals R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 is an alkenyl, cycloalkenyl or arylmethyl group, are effective photoinitiators for photopolymerization of unsaturated compounds. They are particularly suitable for photocuring of pigmented systems.