Patent ID: 7723457

Claim:
A method of making a polyarylsilane, comprising: a) combining a silane or germane of the formula AH a R 1 4-a , a silane, germane, or silagermane compound of the formula A k H g R 1 h , or a combination thereof with a cyclosilane, cyclogermane, or cyclosilagermane of the formula c-A m H pm R 1 rm , where each instance of A is independently Si or Ge, a=2 or 3, and each instance of R 1 is independently aryl, substituted aryl, or -A b H b+1 R 2 b (where R 2 is aryl or substituted aryl, and b is an integer from 1 to 4); k is an integer from 2 to 12, g≧2, h=2 or k, and (g+h)=2k+2, m is an integer from 3 to 12, p is 0 or 1, and r=(2−p); and a catalyst of the formula R 4 2 R 5 2 M (or an immobilized derivative thereof), where M is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr and Hf; each of the instances of R 4 is independently a substituted or nonsubstituted cyclopentadienyl, indenyl, or fluorenyl ligand; and each of the instances of R 5 is independently a substituted or non-substituted aryl; to form a polyarylsilane containing at least 10 A atoms; b) washing said polyarylsilane with a washing composition comprising water; and c) contacting said polyarylsilane with an adsorbent sufficient to remove said metal from said polyarylsilane.