Part 2: Silicone softeners

摘要

History, definition and preparation Silicones were classified as a separate class of man-made polymer more than 50 years ago. After Rochow in the USA (1941) and Mueller in Germany (1942) independently discovered the direct synthesis of methylchlorosilanes via the reaction of metallic silicon with methylchloride, their invention opened the way to the technical production of silicones. The hydrolysis of dimethyldichlorosilane, obtained in this process, leads to polymers with a '-Si-O-Si-O-' backbone and methyl side groups. The empirical formula of the monomeric unit (Me_2SiO) of dimethylpolysiloxane resembles that of acetone. The term silicone therefore derives from 'silico-ketone', disregarding the fact that silicones are free of double bonds in their backbones and are not oxo-compounds at all.