Patent ID: 8394972

Claim:
A process for performing hydrolysis and condensation of an epoxy-functional silane of formula I: R 1 —SiR′ m (OR) 3-m (I) wherein R 1 is or and R, R′ and R″ are each independently a hydrogen (H) or a linear, branched or cyclic, optionally substituted alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, A and A′ are each independently a bivalent alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and m is 0 or 1, and optionally of at least one organofunctional silane of formula II R 2 —SiR′ n (OR) 3-n (II) wherein R 2 is a linear, branched or cyclic, alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, optionally substituted with fluoro, amino, mercapto, methacryloyloxy, hydroxyl or alkoxy groups, R′ is methyl, R groups are each independently a hydrogen or a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and n is 0 or 1, the process comprising: controlled hydrolysis and condensation of the epoxy-functional silane of formula (I) and optionally the organofunctional silane of formula (II) with from 0.001 to 5 mol of water per mole of alkoxy function of the silanes (I) and optionally (II) in the presence of a catalyst consisting of boric acid to obtain a condensate comprising Si—O—B and Si—O—Si bonds.