Preparation of substituted network polysilanes by a disproportionation reaction of ethoxydisilane initiated by a small amount of organolithium reagents

Network methylethoxypolysilanes containing various substituents such as phenyl, butyl, phenylene, thiophene, and anthracene groups were prepared by a disproportionation reaction of 1,1,2,2-tetraethoxy-1,2-dimethyldisilane initiated by addition of a small amount of organolithium reagents that have the corresponding substituents. The reaction was considered to be catalyzed by lithium ethoxide, which was formed by the substitution reaction of the ethoxydisilane with the lithium reagents. Both the substituted and pristine disilanes participated in the disproportionation reaction to yield the network polysilanes. The amount of the substituents and the molecular weight of the polysilanes varied, depending on what and how much of the lithium reagent were used. The electrical conductivity of some polysilanes was measured, and polymers with thiophene or anthracene groups were found to show relatively higher conductivity of 10⁻⁴ Scm⁻¹ after iodine doping. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.