Characterization and Synthesis of Functionalized Polysilalkylene Siloxane Monomers by Hydrosilylation Reaction

The synthesis of novel polysilalkylene siloxane monomers is of great interest to industrial chemists owing to their polymeric analogues having extremely useful properties as elastomers, adhesives, fluids, resins, as well as additives to other commercial products. The current industrial process for creating silicone polymers is through hydrosilylation of dienes. This process can produce a wide variety of organosilicon compounds with vast range of uses. The objective of this experiment is to synthesize modified silicone monomers which can be readily hydrolyzed in the presence of water to form their corresponding polymeric analogues. In order to do this, terminal dienes were reacted with either dimethylchlorosilane or methylphenylchlorosilane in the presence of the Karstedt’s catalyst, the most commonly used hydrosilylation catalyst, in order to yield the modified siloxane monomers. We report on the methodologies used to determine the identity of the final products as well as the methods used to determine their properties