Synthesis and characterization of a novel polyorganosiloxane having a bigger sized tubular structure and its supramolecular clathrate

A novel polyorganosiloxane having a bigger sized tubular structure, tubular polymer (TP) was synthesized successfully by hydrosilylation reaction of reactive cisisotactic ladder-like polyallylsilsesquioxane (Allyl-T) with coupling agent p-bis(dimethylhydrogensilyl) oxydiphenylene (M) in the presence of dicyclopentadienyl-platinum (II) chloride (Cp₂PtCl₂) catalyst. A novel supramolecular TP clathrate (TP/LC) was prepared by in situ encapsulating rod-like liquid crystalline molecule within the pore of TP. The Allyl-T was prepared by stepwise coupling polymerization. Various characterization methods including solubility test, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), vapour pressure osmometer (VPO), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and molecular simulation were used and the results not only proved the existence of nano-scale tubular structures in the TP, but also demonstrated that a novel soluble supramolecular clathrate had been formed.