Investigation of hydrolysis and condensation in organically modified sol-gel systems: {sup 29}Si NMR and the INEPT sequence

The spectral editing properties of the {sup 29}Si NMR INEPT heteronuclear transfer experiment have been utilized for the identification and characterization of hydrolysis and initial condensation products in methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) sol-gel materials. {sup 29}Si NMR assignments in MTMS are complicated by a small spectral dispersion ({approximately} 0.5 ppm) and two different {sup 29}Si-{sup 1}H J couplings. By using analytical expressions for the INEPT signal response with multiple heteronuclear J couplings, unambiguous spectral assignments can be made. For this organomethoxysilane the rate of hydrolysis was found to be very rapid and significantly faster than either the water or alcohol producing condensation reactions. The hydrolysis species of both the MTMS monomer and its initial T{sup 1} condensation products follow statistical distributions that can be directly related to the extent of the hydrolysis reactions. The role of the statistical distribution of hydrolysis products on the production and synthetic control of organically modified sol-gels is discussed