Novel inorganic-organic hybrid materials made previously in the laboratory have utilized acids catalysts such as HCI, acetic acid, toluene sulfonic acid and polystyrene sulfonic acid to catalyze the sol-gel reaction. The sol-gel reaction can also be catalyzed under near neutral (i.e. 5 < pH < 7) and basic conditions. The effects of synthesizing hybrid materials under near basic and basic conditions has not been studied. Attempts to synthesize hybrid materials from polytetramethylene oxide (PTMO) end functionalized with triethoxy silyl groups and, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) under basic conditions met with only partial success. The films obtained had low mechanical stability. This was attributed to the low reactivity of the triethoxy species under neutral and basic conditions. In contrast, films with good mechanical stability were obtained when the TEOS was replaced with titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIOPR). The microstructure of the TIOPRlPTMO hybrid synthesized under near neutral conditions was generally similar to the acid catalyzed PTMOffIOPR hybrids. / Ph. D.