A SILANE FUNCTIONALIZED STYRENE MONOMER AND ITS POLYMERIZATION

Synthetic methodology for a new monomer, (4-vinylphenyl)tris(dimethyls iloxy) silane (3), which can be polymerized to give either hyperbranch ed polymers or linear polymers has been developed. Hyperbranched polym ers can be prepared From the monomer via hydrosilation. Monomer 3 can undergo free radical polymerization, which yields a linear homopolymer . Copolymers with styrene have also been prepared. The resulting polym ers, which contain pendant silicon hydride functionality, can be funct ionalized with a variety of reagents. The glass transition temperature was found to depend strongly on the amount of silicon incorporated in to the polymers.