In 1904, British scientist F.S. KippiHg successfully synthesized a compound containing a silicon-carbon bond - dimethyldichlorosilane - using Greiner's reagent and silicon tetrachloride, thus laying the foundation for the research of organosilicon: 2CH₂MgCl+SiCl→(CH₃)₂SiCl₂+2MgCl₂
Not only have many simple organosilicon compounds R-Si-X been synthesized, but also cyclic and linear polysiloxanes (materials with -Si-O-Si - bonds as the framework) have emerged. In addition, during the experiment, it was found that when partial alkyl-substituted silanes containing hydrolyzable functional groups were obtained, the chemical properties of dimethyldichlorosilane were very active. After hydrolysis, it could generate silanols. Through the condensation between silanediol and silantriol molecules, the principle of generating high polymers with silicon-oxygen bonds as the framework could be achieved, opening up the path for the synthesis of silicone resins. Some of these polymers are oily, some are resin-like, and some are gel-like. These are the various silicone oils, silicone resins and silicone rubbers we have today. However, at that time, the polymerization phenomena observed were ignored and the importance of polymerization in this field was not recognized. Therefore, these polymers were isolated as annoying by-products.
F.S. KippiHg has been working in the field of organosilicon chemistry for 45 years and has published 54 research papers.
F.S. KippiHg is widely recognized as an outstanding founder of organosilicon chemistry worldwide. His achievement lies in identifying the pathway for synthesizing organosilicon compounds and deriving a large number of definite organosilicon compounds, laying the foundation for organosilicon chemistry. But this is not the starting point of today's organosilicon chemistry.
In terms of theoretical work, the synthesis of asymmetric silicon atom compounds has been initiated, creating conditions for the research of photoactive isomers of organosilicon.