The twin monomer 2,2'-spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzodioxasiline] (1) can be polymerized to nanostructured SiO2/phenolic-resin composite material by thermally induced twin polymerization. Thermally induced twin polymerization represents a way to produce nanocomposites simply by thermal induction of twin monomers. Besides 1, the thermal reaction of several related salicylic (2-oxybenzylic) silicon molecules has been investigated. The thermal cleavage of the molecules is studied by using several trapping reagents (e.g., vinyl compounds). A significant occurrence of quinone methide adducts indicates that the thermal mechanism proceeds not only by a ring opening at the oxymethylene position, but also with the ortho-quinone methide as a central or alternative intermediate. This is supported by product analyses of thermally initialized reactions of 1 and its substituted analogues as well as by quantum chemical calculations.
A third twin: Homopolymers are formed by the copolymerization of two twin monomers. Using the new method of simultaneous twin polymerization, complex hybrid materials can be synthesized in a targeted manner (see scheme), in which, depending upon the combination of twin monomers used, nanostructured hybrid materials with different compositions and properties can be obtained.
Spirocyclic silicon alkoxides were synthesized by reaction of Si(OMe)4 with derivatives of salicylic alcohol and studied by in situ differential scanning calorimetry with regard to twin polymerization (TP). Both, thermally induced and proton‐assisted TP gave nanostructured hybrid materials composed of a phenolic resin and silica. Carbonization and subsequent treatment with HF(aq) resulted in microporous carbon, whereas oxidation in air provided mesoporous silica. DFT calculations were performed to obtain a more detailed insight into the first reaction steps of proton‐assisted TP and to support the hypothesis of a reactivity scale based on steric and electronic features of the silicon‐containing precursors (twin monomers). The calculated reaction barriers for the initial reaction steps of proton‐assisted TP are qualitatively in accordance with the Hammett constants of the substituents at the salicylate moiety. This result offers a simple method to predict the reactivity for twin monomers.
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