EFFECT OF MERCURY AND ITS COMPOUNDS ON TH E SYNTHESIS OF POLYSILANES BY THE WURTS REACTION

The effect of metallic mercury and some of its compounds HgCl2, (C6F5) (2)Hg, and (o-C6F4Hg)(3) on the synthesis of polysilanes by the Wurts reaction was studied. It was shown that the addition of metallic mercu ry leads to high-molecular-mass polysilanes with an almost monomodal m olecular mass distribution. In all other cases, the polysilanes have a trimodal molecular mass distribution regardless of the type of additi ve used. Both the high-molecular-mass and the ring products of the syn thesis are formed via the same mechanism, which differs from the mecha nism of the oligomer formation.