Metal-free polymerization of phenylsilane: tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane-catalyzed synthesis of branched polysilanes at elevated temperatures.

The strong organoborane Lewis acid B(C6F5)3 catalyzes the polymerization of phenylsilane at elevated temperatures forming benzene and SiH4 as side-products. The resulting polymer is a branched polysilane with an irregular substitution pattern, as revealed by 2D NMR spectroscopy. Having explored the mechanism of this novel metal-free polymerization by computational chemistry methods at the DFT level, we have suggested that unusual cationic active species, namely monomer-stabilized silyl cations, propagate the polymerization. Hydride abstraction of SiH3 moiety by the catalyst in the initiation step was found to be kinetically preferred by around 9 kcal mol(-1) over activation by coordination …