Structures, Stabilites and Electronic Properties of Phenyl Silsesquioxanes Si2nO3nPh2n (n=1-5): A DFT Study

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to investigate the structures of phenyl silsesquioxanes Si2nO3nPh2n (n=1-5). Our study focuses on the structures, stabilities, and electronic properties of the phenyl silsesquioxanes. The large HOMO–LUMO gaps, which range from 5.14 to 6.30 eV, imply optimal electronic structures for these molecules. The energy differences between the possible conformers of same size phenyl silsesquioxanes are small.