Preparation of Mesoporous Silicon Boron Imide Gels from Single-Source Precursors via a Nonaqueous Sol−Gel Route

The preparation and structure of the novel compound 2-(dimethylamino)-4,6-di[tris(dimethylamino)silylamino]borazine, (Me₂N)[(Me₂N)₃SiNH]₂B₃N₃H₃, 1a, is reported. Two translucent silicon boron imide gels, Si₂B₃(NH)_x(NH₂)_y(NMe₂)_z, gel 2a, and SiB(NH)_x(NH₂)_y(NMe₂)_z, gel 2b, were prepared by catalyzed ammonolysis of compound 1a and 2,4,6-tris[tris(dimethylamino)silylamino]borazine [(Me₂N)₃SiNH]₃B₃N₃H₃, 1b, respectively. Both gels exhibit mesoporous structures with a surface area of 915 and 692 m²/g for 2a and 2b, respectively. The mesoporous structures survived after pyrolytic treatment of the gels at 1000 °C for 2 h and the surface areas of the pyrolyzed products are higher than 439 m² g^-1.