Tailored Cyclic and Linear Polycarbosilazanes by Barium-Catalyzed N-H/H-Si Dehydrocoupling Reactions.

Ba[CH(SiMe3 )2 ]2 (THF)3 catalyzes the fast and controlled dehydrogenative polymerization of Ph2 SiH2 and p-xylylenediamine to afford polycarbosilazanes. The structure (cyclic versus linear; end-groups) and molecular weight of the macromolecules can be tuned by adjusting the Ph2 SiH2 /diamine feed ratio. A detailed analysis of the resulting materials (mol. wt up to ca. 10 000 g mol(-1) ) is provided.