Synthesis and properties of addition-type poly(norbornene) s with siloxane substituents

Abstract

Vinyl addition copolymerization of norbornene with norbornene derivatives bearing siloxane substituent, three arm-, cyclicand phenyl-siloxane groups, was realized in the presence of the binary Ni(acac)2/B(C 6F5)3 system. The resulting copolymers show good solubility in common organic solvents and possess a very high grass transition temperature between 265 and 360 °C, depending on the content and structure of the siloxane groups. The incorporation of siloxane groups linked to the polymer chain results in a significant increase in the mechanical flexibility of the corresponding films. Furthermore, the gas permeability is also dependent on the content and structure of the siloxane groups, and the films obtained for the polymers with three arm-siloxane group (-Si(OSiMe 3)3) display high oxygen permeability in the range of 39 to 239 Barrer. ©2009 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.