A novel approach for anionic bulk polymerization of 1,3,5‐tris(trifluoropropylmethyl)cyclotrisiloxane

Abstract Present work gave a new method for preparing polymethyl(3,3,3‐trifluoropropyl)siloxane (PMTFPS) in the mixing chamber of a torque rheometer using sodium silanolate as initiator, and ethyl acetate (EA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as promoters. The promoting effect of EA in the anionic bulk polymerization of 1,3,5‐tris(trifluoropropylmethyl) cyclotrisiloxane (F 3 ) was investigated in comparison with DMSO, a common promoter. Results showed that EA exhibited an effective promoting effect as DMSO did. When the polymerization was carried out for 4.0 min at 120°C in the presence of 0.30 mol L −1 EA, the maximum of number average molecular weight ( M n = 2.45 × 10 5 g mol −1 ) of PMTFPS was obtained with high yield (89.2 wt%). The back‐biting reactions during the polymerization were almost suppressed and less than 0.75 wt% cyclic by‐products were obtained by matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS) for EA promoter system. Investigations of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetic analysis showed that PMTFPS could be used in a wide range of operational temperatures. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers