Polymerization of cyclohexene oxide with aluminum complex/silanol catalyst. VI. Oligomer and polymer effects

The activity of an aluminum complex/polysilanol polymerization catalyst was examined in order to confirm the dependence of catalytic activation on silanol chain length. Tris (acetylacetonato)–aluminum/silanol increased when silanols with an intramolecular hydrogen bond such as the trimer of diphenylsilanediol, polydiphenyl(4-vinylphenyl)silanol, and polymeric silanol of silicone were used. However, when tris(ethylacetoacetato)aluminum or tris(salicylaldehydato)aluminum was used, the product obtained from the reaction of a part of the aluminum complex with the polysilanols had to be considered in any explanation of the catalytic activation. The active catalyst with such aluminum complexes was obtained when the silanols that had intramolecular hydrogen bonds and gave the appropriate ratio of the reaction between the aluminum complex and silanol were used.