Dehydrocoupling of Bis(silyl)alkylbenzenes to Network Polysilanes, Catalyzed by Group 4 Metallocene Combination

Bis(silyl)alkylbenzenes such as bis(1-sila-sec-butyl)benzene (1) and 2-phenyl-1,3-disilapropane (2) were synthesized in high yields by the reduction of the corresponding chlorosilanes with $LiAlH_4$ in diethyl ether. The dehydrocoupling of 1 and 2 was performed using group IV metallocene complexes generated in situ from $Cp_2MCl_2$/Red-Al and $Cp_2MCl_2$/n-BuLi (M = Ti, Hf), producing two phases of polymers. The TGA residue yields of the insoluble polymers were in the range of 64-74%. The molecular weights of the soluble polymers produced ranged from 700 to 5000 ($M_w$ vs polystyrene using GPC) and from 500 to 900 ($M_w$ vs polystyrene using GPC). The dehydropolymerization of 1 and 2 seemed to initially produce a low-molecular-weight polymer, which then underwent an extensive cross-linking reaction of backbone Si-H bonds, leading to an insoluble network polymer.