A new insight into the polymodal molecular mass distributions arising in the Wurtz synthesis of polysilanes

Abstract

In the light of recent understanding of the role and ultimate fate of alkali metals used in Wurtz syntheses of polysilanes, the polymodal nature of the molecular weight distributions that arise in the formation of poly(methylphenylsilane) are shown to be entirely consistent with an anionic mechanism of polymerization and explicable solely in terms of the heterogeneity of the reaction medium.