ADMET Polymerization as a Route to Functionalized Polycarbosilanes

It is now evident that ADMET chemistry can be employed to prepare a family of unsaturated carbosilane polymers containing a common backbone decorated with different alkoxysilane pendant groups, demonstrating the generality and potential utility of this chemistry. Four functionalized silicon containing dienes have been synthesized by nucleophilic substitution of the same parent diene monomer containing two reactive silicon‐chlorine bonds. These new α,ω‐diene monomers have been polymerized under ADMET conditions using the 2nd generation Grubbs's ruthenium catalyst, producing polymers with useful molecular weights. Variation of the pendant group results in differing chemical and physical properties of the resulting polymers. We believe this chemistry offers much to broaden the synthetic pathways to new organosilicon polymers.