Investigation of the Structure of Polymerizable Silsesquioxanes by GPC and MALDI-TOF-MS in Relation to their Viscosity

Summary.

Hydrolytic condensation of different methacrylate groups containing alkoxy silanes yielded resins which showed interesting properties as a matrix for dental composites. For this purpose, resins of low viscosity are desired resulting in composites with a high amount of inorganic fillers. Our investigations demonstrated that the viscosity of the obtained polycondensates was predominantly influenced by the kind of organic spacer between the methacrylate group and the silicon atom. In addition, the viscosity also significantly changed in dependence of the kind of structure units built. NMR spectroscopic investigations as well as size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry showed that the formed structures depended both on the kind of catalyst used for hydrolysis/condensation and the bulkiness of the organic substituent at the silicon atom.