Polysilanes experiments

In 1971, a short communication was published [54] by Kumada and co-workers reporting the formation of di- and polysilanes from dihydrosilanes by the action of a platinum complex. Also the Wilkinson catalyst (Ph3P)3RhCl promotes hydrosilation. If no alkenes are present, formation of chain silanes occurs. A thorough analysis of the product distribution shows a high preference for polymers (without a catalyst, disproportionation reactions of the silanes prevail). Cross experiments indicate the formation of a silylene complex as intermediate and in solution, free silylenes could also be trapped by Et3SiH [55, 56],... 

As these experiments indicate, polysilanes can in some cases be converted to silicon carbide directly, without the necessity for formation of polycarbosilane, fractionation, or oxidation. For example, polysilastyrene copolymers can be formed into films or fibers and then crosslinked by irradiation with UV light. The crosslinked polysilane forms silicon carbide when heated to 1100°C in vacuum. (1U This method can be used in a "printing" mode, if a film of polysilane is cast onto a ceramic or metal substrate, then... 

Although polysilanes have been used mostly as photoinitiators for polymerization, they may also find application as initiators for other radical reactions. Experiments to test this possibility are now being carried out. 

Kipping experiment of the coupling of diphenyldichlorosilane had to be very low because in addition to cyclic tetramer, large quantities of cyclic pentamer and hexamer were formed. Only very recently was existance of polysilanes with two aryl substituents proved by Miller who prepared... 

The structures of the radical anions were confirmed by the following experiment (Scheme 9). The reduction of the ladder polysilanes was monitored by UY-visible-NIR spectroscopy. When the absorption of the ladder polysilanes was completely replaced by the absorption of the radical anions, the sealed tube was opened. The radical anions were immediately oxidized, and the starting ladder polysilanes were recovered in high isolated yields. It is reasonable to conclude that the radical anions of the ladder polysilanes retain the ladder structure, and the Si-Si bond cleavage or skeletal rearrangement does not occur. 

In summary, the production of substituted silylenes and silyl radicals upon exhaustive irradiation at 254 nm of polysilane high polymers suggested that the polymer photochemistry resembled that previously reported for short chain acyclic and cyclic oligomers (39). More recent experiments, however, have suggested that the photochemical mechanism for the degradation of the high polymers is more complex than first envisioned (vide infra) (48). 

During photolysis, the double bond content of the polysilane(P-l)(15mol% in this experiment) decreased to 10mol%, as measured by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. However, the ratio, quantum yield of scission(Q(S))/quantum yield of crosslinking(Q(X)), was not affected by the reaction of the double bond. West and his coworkers have reported that poly((2-(3-cyclohexenyl)-ethyl)methylsilane-co-methylphenylsilane) crosslinked upon irradiation(55). The difference between our results and West s may lie in the amount of the double bond and inhibitation of the radical closslinking by the phenol moiety. Polysilane with a halogen moiety, P-8, photodecomposed rapidly, compared with P-1 or P-3. The introduction of a chloride moiety was effective for the sensitization of the photodegradation. Similar results has already been reported(55). 

Most optically active polysilanes owe their optical activity to induced main-chain chirality, as outlined above. However, backbone silicon atoms with two different side-chain substituents are chiral. Long-chain catenates, however, are effectively internally racemized by the random stereochemistry at silicon, and inherent main-chain chirality is not observed. For oligosilanes, however, inherent main-chain chirality has been demonstrated. A series of 2,3-disubstituted tetrasilanes, H3Si[Si(H)X]2SiH3 (where X = Ph, Cl, or Br), were obtained from octaphenylcyclote-trasilane and contain two chiral main-chain silicon atoms, 6.16 These give rise to four diastereoisomers the optically active S,S and R,R forms, the activity of which is equal but opposite, resulting in a racemic (and consequently optically inactive) mixture and the two meso-forms, S,R and R,S, which are optically inactive by internal compensation. It is reported that the diastereoisomers could be distinguished in NMR and GC/MS experiments. For the case of 2-phenyltetrasilane, a racemic mixture of (R)- and (A)-enantiomers was obtained. 

In an effort to quantify the effect of photolysis, polysilanes 2 and 8 were selected as typical models. For this experiment, samples of 2 were fractionated by repeated precipitation from toluene using isopropanol. No additional... 

The key intermediates in the process are the silylenes and the radical fragments, both of which should be amenable to trapping experiments. With this in mind, two representative, polysilane derivatives 6 and 9, were irradiated (254 nm) in the presence of excess triethylsilane, and the results of this experiment are shown in Figure 6. Since the polysilane 9 was not soluble in the trapping reagent, it was dissolved in cyclohexane which contained a 100 fold molar excess of triethylsilane. In each case, the major isolable volatile products... 

In a revealing experiment, Toyoda and Fujiki showed that the UV absorption and emission spectra of (PhMeSi) are virtually identical to those of the copolymer, (PhMeSi)o.95 [PhSiCH2C (H)(CH3)CH2CH3]005 . The latter is known to be helical in solution from its CD spectrum. The implication is that (PhMeSi) , which was for many years described in terms of the anti-gauche model, is actually helical in solution also.69 The evidence which is accumulating now suggests that nearly all polysilanes adopt helical conformations in solution. 

Other types of chromotropic behavior in polysilanes have only begun to be investigated. The transformation of ( -butyl2 Si) and ( -pentyl2 Si) under pressure from the all-D to a more extended conformation (described in the literature as anti, but more likely transoid)15 is an example of piezochromism. Other polysilanes might also exhibit piezochromic behavior, and experiments to study this seem warranted. 

Figure 5.18 Schematic drawing of experiment used to determine hole conductivity of polysilanes. Reprinted by permission from M. Stolka et al., J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Chem. Ed,., 1987, 25, 823. Copyright 1988 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Helix Command Surface Experiments of Polysilane Binary Film... 

This section will demonstrate the first sergeants and soldiers-type helix command surface experiment, in which thermo-driven chiroptical transfer and amplification in optically inactive polysilane film from grafted (or spin-coated) optically active helical polysilane onto quartz substrate [92]. Although helix and optical activity amplification phenomena based on the sergeants and soldiers principle was mainly investigated in polymer stereochemistry, the orientation and physical properties of a thick layer deposited onto a solid surface and controlled by a monolayer command film based on command surface principles was established in photochemical material and surface science [93,94]. Both sergeants and soldiers and command surface experiments appear to have been developed independently. 

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