Photoinitiated Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane.

Photochemical techniques have recently been revitalized as they can readily be adapted to different polymerization modes to yield a wide range of complex macromolecular structures. However, the implementation of the photoinduced cationic methods in the polymerization of cyclic siloxane monomers has scarcely been investigated. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) is an important monomer for the synthesis of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and its copolymers.