Summary
Poly(isobutylene-b-ɛ-caprolactone) diblock and poly(ɛ-caprolactone-b-isobutylene-b-ɛ-caprolactone) triblock copolymers have been prepared and characterized. The synthesis involved the living cationic polymerization of IB, followed by capping with 1,1-diphenylethylene or 1,1-p-ditolylethylene and end-quenching with 1-methoxy-1-trimethylsiloxy-2-methyl-propene to yield methoxycarbonyl functional PIB. Hydroxyl end-functional PIB polymers were quantitatively obtained by the subsequent reduction of methoxycarbonyl end-functional PIB with LiAlH4. The structure of hydroxyl end-functional PIBs was confirmed by 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy. Poly(ɛ-caprolactone-b-isobutylene) diblock copolymers and poly(ɛ-caprolactone-b-isobutylene-b-ɛ-caprolactone) triblock copolymers were synthesized by the living cationic ring-opening polymerization of ɛ-caprolactone with hydroxyl end-functional PIB as macroinitiator in the presence of HCl•Et2O via the “activated monomer mechanism”. The block copolymers exhibited close to theoretical Mns and narrow molecular weight distributions.
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Received: 30 January 2002/Revised version: 19 February 2002/ Accepted: 19 February 2002
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Kim, M., Faust, R. Synthesis of poly(ɛ-caprolactone-b-isobutylene) diblock copolymer and poly(ɛ-caprolactone-b-isobutylene-b-ɛ-caprolactone) triblock copolymer. Polymer Bulletin 48, 127–134 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-002-0019-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-002-0019-x