SYNTHESIS OF POLYHYDROSILANES-GRAFT-POLY(ETHYLENEGLYCOL)METHYL ETHER

A synthetic sequence is described for the preparation of SiH functional polysilanes having side segments of poly(ethyleneglycol) methyl ether. For this purpose, poly[diphenylsilane-co-methyl(H) silane] is reacted first with allyl bromide through microwave pre-activation followed by catalytic hydrosilylation. The process is controlled in such manner that only part of the SiH groups is consumed. Then, the reaction with poly(ethyleneglycol) methyl ether is performed in THF/toluene homogeneous system using pyridine as proton acceptor. The functional graft copolymer structure was characterized by NMR, FT-IR spectral analysis, and GPC methods. The unreacted SiH groups could be used in further developments related to the exploitation of the optoelectronic and photosensitive properties of polysilanes in amphiphilic systems.