Synthesis of organic–inorganic chiral block poly(methylphenylsilane) functional polymers,and study of their optical and chiroptical properties

Polysilanes upon UV irradiation give rise to silyl macroradicals which are capable to initiate radical polymerization. Hence, chiral block functional polysilanes were synthesized by UV irradiation of poly(methylphenylsilane) (PMPS) with a vinyl chiral monomer, (R)‐N‐(1‐phenylethyl)methacrylamide (R‐NPEMAM). The synthesized copolymer samples were characterized by FTIR, NMR, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The number and weight average molecular weights of PMPS and synthesized chiral‐block‐PMPS were measured by GPC analysis. Two glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the synthesized materials clearly indicate the formation of chiral‐block‐PMPS copolymers. SEM analysis also indicated the synthesized organic–inorganic block copolymers. The optical and chiroptical properties of the synthesized materials were studied. The cotton effect is observed not only at 276 nm due to aromatic ring of the chiral monomer units but also at 325 nm which is associated with the Si–Si conjugation of PMPS block of synthesized functional polysilanes. Such tunable chirality may find potential application in optoelectronics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3626–3634