APPLICATION OF THERMALLY ENHANCED HUISGEN CYCLOADDITION ON POLYSILOXANE FUNCTIONALIZATION

Abstract

<p>The thermal azide-alkyne cycloaddition using electron deficient alkynes was used to functionalize polysiloxanes at low temperatures and without the need of a metal catalyst. We observed that the temperature at which cycloaddition began can be attributed to the identity of the alkyne's substituents (Chapter 2). We propose that the location of functionalization can be controlled by the specific introduction of electron deficient alkynes on terminal or pendant points on the polysiloxane. Polysiloxanes, each containing two electronically different alkynes, were prepared to show preferential functionalization of the more reactive alkyne without consuming the less reactive alkyne. The alkyne's reactivity can be modified by our choice of substituents. The extension of these results led to polysiloxane difunctionalization where the more reactive alkyne was consumed by a small azide followed by consumption of the less reactive alkyne with a bisazide siloxane. Thermal cycloaddition was used to introduce carbohydrates onto polysiloxanes without complicated protection/deprotection schemes and without catalysts (Chapter 3). The process was successful as propiolate-functionalized siloxane and azide-functionalized gluconamide reacted to produce a trisiloxane-functionalized gluconamide. Trisiloxane-functionalized gluconamide gelled diethyl ether at 3.0% gelator/solvent volume ratio becoming one of the few siloxane-based gelling agents.</p>