NMR Study of the Hydrolysis and Oligomerization of Alkyltrichlorosilanes in Silanizing Solutions Used to Prepare Alkylsiloxane Self-Assembled Monolayers

Si-29 NMR spectroscopy is not suited to following a number of fast occurring processes involving silicon centres due to long accumulation times resulting from low detector sensitivity factors and poor natural abundance. By observing subtle changes in signals due to the methylene protons adjacent to the silicon centre, the hydrolysis of alkyltrichlorosilanes in tetrahydrofuran and acetone-d(6) solutions, and subsequent polycondensation reactions, were studied using H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy, to gain an understanding of the processes that lead to formation of oligomers in silanizing solutions. The hydroxysilanes formed by hydrolysis of alkyltrichlorosilanes were characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR studies at low temperatures. Formation of oligomeric and polymeric species from these hydroxysilanes at higher temperatures was monitored by H-1 NMR studies. The data for oligomer formation were fitted to the kinetic model of an acid-catalyzed stepwise condensation. The implications of these results for the problem of oligomer formation competing with self-assembly processes in formation of alkylsiloxane monolayers are discussed.