| Abstract: | A novel original method allowing the synthesis of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-containing triblock copolymers is described. The synthetical procedure is based on the use of ω-silyl triflate-terminated polymers serving as macroinitiators for cyclic siloxane polymerization. Due to the continous interchange reactions between the siloxane linkages and the reactive cationic sites, triblock copolymers are obtained. This method was applied to the synthesis of triblock copolymers with a central PDMS block and either two polystyrene or two poly(ε-caprolactam) rigid external blocks. Another method, the well-known “end-blocker” technique, was unsuccessful for obtaining block copolymers. |
