Silylation of poly(vinyl alcohol) with hexamethyldisilazane in liquid ammonia

Silylation of poly(vinyl alcohol) has been performed with hexamethyldisilazane in liquid ammonia in an autoclave. This novel procedure has the advantage that the educt, the reagent, and the product are soluble in ammonia, which works under homogeneous conditions. No salt like by-products are formed and no tedious purification of the product is necessary. The degree of silylation has been adjusted through the ratio of silylating agent to hydroxy groups. Random incorporation of trimethylsilyl groups was proven by the linear dependence of the glass transition temperature from the degree of silylation and the solubility of the partially silylated material. Quantitative investigation of the silylation reaction showed first-order kinetics for the initial and final stages of the reaction indicative of a reaction where k1 > k2 > k3. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.