Novel carboxy functionalized sol-gel precursors

A novel family of inorganic-organic copolymers (ORMOCER) derived from urethane- and thioether(meth)acrylate alkoxysilanes has been sucessfully exploited for a variety of diverse applications. In order to widen the range of applications an additional functionalty (carboxy group) has been incorporated in this silane type. Conventional sol-gel processing facilitates the formation of an inorganic "Si-O-Si"-network via hydrolysis and polycondensation reactions of alkoxysilyl moieties and in addition, the (meth)acrylate groups are available for radically induced polymerization to obtain a complementary organic polymeric structure. The presence of a carboxy group would appear to have great potential for a range of diverse areas of application, such as an internal catalyst for the sol-gel process, copmplexation of elements such as Zr an Ti, increasing the adhesuion to various substrates and modification of solubility. A number of novel silanes and their syntheses will be described in this paper.