Polysilaethers bearing Si–H and its functionalization via hydrosilylation with acrylic acid

The polysilaether polymers bearing Si–H bonds (PSEHs) were synthesized using Wurtz coupling reaction of dichlorosilanes, mediated by alkali metals, after alcoholysis, the reactant was further hydrolyzed and polycondensation. The Si–H bonds in the macromolecular side chains provide tremendous potentials to prepare a variety of functionalized polysilaethers via hydrosilylation. In this work, the functionalization of PSEHs was carried out via hydrosilylation with acrylic acid and the functionalized derivative was characterized by means of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography and thermal analysis. It is noted that both PSEHs and the functionalized derivative polymer displayed the characteristics of ultraviolet (UV) absorption and photoluminescence. The functionalized polymers show a considerable blue shift (∼325 nm) and red shift (∼390 nm) in comparison with the starting polymer, which provides the potential to obtain some tunable optoelectronic properties via the structural modifications of PSEHs.