A new class of compounds known as chalcogenosilacyclopentanes is described. These compounds are five-membered ring structures containing a silicon-selenium or silicon-tellurium bond, as shown in Formulas (I) and (II). In these compounds, the substituents on the silicon and on the ring carbons may be hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, aromatic, or ether groups. The chalcogenosilacyclopentane compounds undergo ring-opening reactions with hydroxyl and other protic functionalities and may be used to prepare substrates that are amenable to thin film deposition techniques such as ALD and CVD.