The dynamic behavior of the hydrolysis reaction of Si(OCH3)4 under neutral, basic, and acidic conditions
was investigated, for the first time, at the atomic level with short time intervals using a novel tight-binding
quantum chemical molecular dynamics program “Colors”. The initial parameters required for the computation
were determined completely on the basis of the first principles density functional calculations using Amsterdam
density functional program. The simulation results of this study clearly indicate that a flank-side attack
mechanism is favored, in all the three cases, for the hydrolysis process, and pentacoordinate silicon intermediates
are easy pathways for the displacement of −OCH3 by −OH on silicon. Moreover, the presence of the acid
or the base as catalyst promotes the hydrolysis by rapid formation of Si−OH bond in comparison to the
hydrolysis under neutral condition. Furthermore, in the case of the latter condition, it was observed that the
proton oscillates between −OH and −OCH3 before it migrates to the latter group.
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