Palm-tree architectures derived from C60-terminated polystyrene

By grafting polystyryllithium (PSLi) or polyisoprenyllithium (PILi) onto the fullerene borne by the mono-adduct polystyrene (PS)-C₆₀ (≈90%) obtained upon reacting the fullerene with azide-terminated PS, fairly well-defined palm-tree like polymers PS_aC₆₀(PS_b)₅ and block copolymers PS_aC₆₀(PI)₅ could be obtained. In these architectures, 5 PS (PI) branches of equal length are connected to a PS trunk through a single fullerene molecule.