Two polyurethane model compounds obtained from 4,4 0 -diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) or MDI and trisilanol isooctyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Moreover, polymerization kinetics of the samples obtained from an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer and BDO containing 0, 0.23, 0.57, 1.14 and 2.28 wt% of POSS were studied from oscillatory rheometry and differential scanning calorimetry. A higher thermal stability was observed for MDI þ POSS when compared with MDI þ BDO compound. The addition of 1.14 and 2.28 wt% of POSS increased the activation energy of polymerization. The polymerization mechanisms observed were nucleation and growth (A 2 ) at the beginning of synthesis and diffusion controlled (D n ) at the last stage of conversion.