A new hyperbranched polysiloxane containing maleimide (HPMA) was synthesized through the reaction between N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) maleimide and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, which was then used to prepare cyanate ester (CE) resin-based hybrids (coded as HPMAx/CE, where x is the weight fraction of HPMA in the hybrid). The curing behavior of uncured hybrids and the typical properties (impact strength and dielectric properties) of cured hybrids were systemically investigated. Results show that the performance of hybrids is greatly related with the content of HPMA. Hybrids have obviously lower curing temperature than CE, overcoming the poor curing characteristics (higher curing temperature and longer curing time) of neat CE, for example, the curing peak temperature of HPMA20/CE is about 65 degrees C lower than that of CE. In the case of cured resin and hybrids, the hybrids exhibit decreased dielectric constant and loss than CE resin; moreover, the former also exhibits lower water absorption than the latter. Specifically, the dielectric loss of HPMA15/CE hybrid is only about 27% of that of neat CE resin. In addition, the hybrids with suitable contents of HPMA have significantly improved impact strengths. The overall improved properties suggest that HPMAx/CE hybrids have great potential in applications needing harsh requirements of curing feature, dielectric properties, and toughness. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012