Kinetics of catalyzed dehydrocondensation of hydrogen functionalized siloxane

The kinetics of the platinum-catalyzed dehydrocondensation reaction for five different mono-alcohols and water is studied in order to identify the ones with the highest effectiveness in releasing gaseous H-2 from the Si-H groups of poly(methylhydrosiloxane) (PMHS). Our results show that the most common logic rules of alcohol reactivity do not apply in such reactions and that a set of aspects need to be considered together to understand or predict the outcome and the possible applications. In dehydrocondensation of PMHS, the use of Lamoreaux' catalyst may be considered to be a cost-effective alternative, a novel approach in characterizing catalyzed reaction kinetics under mild conditions. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first article describing the use of Lamoreaux' in this approach.