FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE STABILITY OF ALKOXYSILANES IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION

Parameters controlling intrinsic stability and reactivity of organosilanols generated from alkoxysilanes in aqueous environments have been elucidated in several experiments. Data involving kinetics, equilibrium, phase separation, and bonding studies of alkyl and organofunctional alkoxysilanes are presented. The studies indicate that the rates of hydrolysis of alkoxysilanes are generally related to their steric bulk, but demonstrate that after rate-limiting hydrolysis of the first alkoxy group steric effects are much less important. Aqueous hydrolysis of alkylalkoxysilanes was studied to determine equilibrium constants and the extent of oligomerization up to phase separation. In the case of propyltrialkoxysilane, phase separation is coincident with the formation of tetramer. The equilibrium constant for esterification of silanols is [GRAPHICS] Also, the performance properties of new water-borne silanes were evaluated and in most cases, their performance equalled or exceeded their traditional silane counterparts.