Reactivity of silicon‐based epoxy monomers as studied by near‐infrared spectroscopy and multivariate curve resolution methods

The reaction of glycidyloxydimethylphenyl silane with aniline was used as a model system to study the reactivity of silicon‐based epoxy monomers. The reaction was monitored online by near‐infrared spectroscopy, and the evolution of the concentration of each species throughout the reaction was determined by the application of multivariate curve resolution/alternating least squares to the set of recorded spectra. The reactivity was evaluated by a comparison of the concentration profiles obtained for the glycidyloxydimethylphenyl silane/aniline system with those of phenylglycidyl ether/aniline as a reference system. The results confirmed that the reactivity of the silicon‐based epoxy monomer was higher and that its ring opening reaction was faster because of electronic effects. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1447–1456, 2006