On the photoreactivity of diacetylene containing thermoplastic block copolymers

A group of block copolymers containing diacetylenes as chain extenders in their hard segments was prepared, based on urethanes, esters, ureas, and amides as hard segments and polybutadienes, polyethers, polyesters, and polysiloxanes as soft segments. Almost all block copolymers were photoreactive, but there was a wide range of sensitivities. The photoreactivity of the copolymers was found to depend on the reactivity of the monomer unit, on the width of the diacetylene stacks in the hard segments, and on the degree of phase separation in the solid films. To explore the range of monomer reactivities we prepared 15 crystalline monomers. Urethanes were in general the most reactive, and this was attributed in part to the specific effect of hydrogen bonding which brings about a shortening of the C1 to C4 distance between diacetylenes tend to reduce the photoreactivity. The behavior of identical diacetylene units in the monomer crystal, in the homopolymer, and in the block copolymer is discussed in this paper.