| Abstract
| - The synthesis and characterization of poly(styrene-g-ferrocenyldimethylsilane), the firstorganic−organometallic graft copolymer, are reported. This was permitted by the discovery that 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) can effectively cap the living anionic polyferrocenylsilane generated by the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the dimethyl-substituted [1]ferrocenophane 1 using n-BuLi as theinitiator. The resultant living DPE-capped polymer was then reacted with the chloromethyl functionalitiesof poly(styrene-co-chloromethylstyrene) (PS-co-PCMS) (3) to afford the polystyrene−polyferrocenylsilanegraft copolymers 5a and 5b. These graft copolymers were then analyzed using differential scanningcalorimetry and wide-angle X-ray scattering which indicated that the materials are essentially amorphous,with at most a very low degree of crystallinity. Cyclic voltammetry of 5b in CH2Cl2 showed a well-resolvedwave voltammogram with a redox coupling ΔE of ca. 0.23 V, characteristic of the presence of significantFe- - -Fe interactions in the grafted organometallic side chains. Polymer 5b was also characterized bythermogravimetric analysis which indicated that the material is thermally stable to weight loss up to ca.300 °C.
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