Anionic block copolymerization of cyclotetrasiloxanes initiated by 4,4'‐bis(dimethyllithiioxylsilyl)diphenyl ether

Abstract

AbstractThe anionic copolymerization of cyclotetrasiloxanes initiated by 4,4′‐bis(dimethyllithiioxylsilyl)diphenyl ether (BDMOLiPE) was carried out for the preparation of poly(diphenyl‐dimethyl‐diphenyl)siloxane block copolymers (PMP). To reduce redistribution reaction, the lithium‐based dianionic initiator (BDMOLiPE) was first used for the copolymerization of the cyclotetrasiloxane monomers without solvent, with dimethyl formamide (DMF) as a promotor. The cyclotetrasiloxanes used involved octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), octaphenylcyclotetrasiloxane (P4), and tetramethyl‐tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane (V4). The copolymers obtained were characterized withproton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, intrinsic viscosity([η]) determination, transmission electron microscopy, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction analysis. The results illustrate that the products should belong to block copolymers but not be too perfect because the block copolymers were scrambled to a certain extent during the copolymerization process. However, we can approximately express them as PMP and PMVP, according to the different order of the feeding in raw materials. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 1203–1210, 2001