Process for the synthesis of oligomeric siloxane having sulfone moiety, and silicon-containing compounds having sulfone moiety

A process for the synthesis of sulfonyl silanes, comprising the steps of:

• (a) reacting a compound of formula (I):
• X—(R*)n—S—R (I)
• with a metal (M) selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, Mg, Al, Cs, Sn, Ni, and Hg,
• to obtain a sulfenyl metal intermediate of the formula (II):
• (X)a-M-[(R*)n—S—R]b (II)
• (b) contacting the sulfenyl metal intermediate (II) with a silane of formula (III):
• Si(X)2(R1)2 (III)
• to obtain a sulfenylated silicon-containing reaction product, wherein the sulfenylated silicon-containing reaction product is a sulfenylated silane, and treating the sulfenylated silane with water to form a sulfenylated siloxane;
• (c) contacting the sulfenylated siloxane with an oxidizing agent,
• and wherein X is a halogen selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br and I;
• each subscript n is an integer from 1 to 10;
• each R is H or a monovalent organic group having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms;
• each R* is a divalent organic group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms;
• and, each R1 is a monovalent organic group having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms;
• the subscript a is 0 or 1;
• and, the subscript b is an integer of from 1 to 10, with the proviso that when a is 0, then b is from 1 to 10, and when a is 1, then b is 1.