Katsuhiko Takenaka

Protection and polymerization of functional monomers: 8. Anionic living polymerization of 4-[2-(trialkyl)silyloxyethyl]styrene as protected 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)styrene☆

Abstract Anionic polymerizations of 2-(4-vinylphenyl)ethoxy(trialkyl)silanes and 2-(4-vinylphenyl)ethoxy(t-butoxydimethyl)silane were investigated with oligo(α-methylstyryl)dilithium or -dipotassium as initiator in tetrahydrofuran at −78°C. These monomers readily polymerized to form ‘living polymers’. Subsequent deprotection of the silyl groups from the resulting polymers gave poly[2-(4-vinylphenyl)ethanol]s of the desired molecular weights with narrow molecular weight distributions ( M w M n = 1.05–1.21 ). The living polymers of the silyl ethers of 2-(4-vinylphenyl)ethanol can initiate further polymerization of either styrene or α-methylstyrene, yielding new block copolymers containing 2-(vinylphenyl)ethanol blocks.