Among oligomeric siloxane units, the cubic octameric siloxane cage Si8O12, commonly termed double four-ring (D4R), is of particular interest as an ideal molecular building
unit because of its rigidity, hyperbranched architecture,high symmetry, and ease of functionalization. D4R moieties bearing specific functional groups such as aldehyde, carboxyl,and epoxy have been used in diverse forms as model catalysts, components for polymer blends, organic light-emitting diodes, and so on. Early attempts to construct silicabased micro- and/or mesoporous materials with molecular homogeneity from predefined D4R units involved surfactant-directed co-assembly of D4R cages,[9] cross-linking of D4R units by hydrosilylation, polycondensation of alkoxysilylated cages, and self-assembly of well-designed amphiphilic molecules containing D4R cages. Although claims were made that D4R units were retained in the siloxane networks,control over the microscopic arrangement of the cages and subsequent micropore size distribution remains to be achieved. |