Hyperbranched Polysiloxanes Based on Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Cages with Ultra-High Molecular Weight and Structural Tuneability

Hyperbranched siloxane-based polymers with ultra-high molecular weight were synthesized by the Piers–Rubinsztajn reaction between octakis(dimethylsiloxy) octasilsesquioxane with different dialkoxysilanes, using tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane as the catalyst. The origin of the high molecular weight is explained by the high reactivity of the catalyst and strain energy of isolated small molecule in which all eight silane groups close into rings on the sides of a single cubic cage. The structural tuneability was further demonstrated by use of methyl(3-chloropropyl)diethoxysilane, which generates a polymer with similar ultra-high molecular weight. Introduction of phosphonate groups through the chloropropyl sites later leads to functionalized polymers which can encapsulate various transition metal nanoparticles.

Simple and high yield access to octafunctional azido, amine and urea group bearing cubic spherosilicates

Spherosilicates and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes represent unique well-defined rigid building blocks for molecular and hybrid materials. Drawbacks in their synthesis are often low yields and the restricted presence of functional groups either based on incomplete transformation of all corners or the reactivity of the functional groups. Particularly amine-functionalization reveals some synthetic challenges. In this study we report the synthesis of a new class of octafunctionalized hydrogen bond forming spherosilicates via a facile route based on octabromo alkyl functionalized cubic spherosilicates. Four different alkyl chain lengths, namely C₄, C₅, C₆ and C₁₁, were realized starting from ω-alkenylbromides via hydrosilylation of Q₈M₈^H. Using sodium azide in a mixture of acetonitrile : DMF = 10 : 1, the octaazide was obtained quantitatively and could be rapidly transformed in an octaamine cube via catalytic hydrogenation over Pd/C in absolute ethanol. The following reaction to hydrogen bond forming spherosilicates was performed in situ by adding propyl isocyanate. All transformations proceed quantitatively at the eight corners of the cube, which was evidenced by NMR spectroscopy and ESI-MS measurements. The Q₈-target compound can be separated after each reaction step over simple chemical workup while no cage rearrangement was observed. The structures were confirmed using ¹H, ¹³C, ²⁹Si-NMR, FT-IR, elemental analysis and ESI-MS. The method opens a high yield route (overall isolated yield 83-88%) for structural building blocks in hybrid materials.