Methods for the preparation of a poly(arylene ether) polysiloxane multiblock copolymer, multiblock copolymers produced thereby, and associated compositions and articles

1. A method of preparing a poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer, comprising:

reacting

a hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether),

a hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane, and

an aromatic diacid chloride

to form a poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) has an intrinsic viscosity of about 0.04 to about 0.2 deciliter per gram as measured at 25° C. in chloroform.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein x and y are each independently 0 to about 100, provided that the sum of x and y is at least 2; each occurrence of Q′ is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; each occurrence of Q 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; and L has the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 1 and R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; z is 0 or 1; and Y has a structure selected from the group consisting of

wherein each occurrence of R 3 -R 6 is independently hydrogen or C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein each occurrence of Q 3 is independently methyl or di-n-butylaminomethyl; and each occurrence of a and b is independently 0 to about 100, provided that the sum of a and b is, on average, about 3 to about 100.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the sum of a and b is, on average, about 4 to about 30.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane comprises

a plurality of repeating units having the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 7 is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl or C 1 -C 12 halohydrocarbyl; and

two terminal units having the structure

wherein Y is hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, or halogen, and wherein each occurrence of R 8 is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl or C 1 -C 12 halo hydrocarbyl.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane has the structure

wherein n is, on average, about 5 to about IOU.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein n is, on average, about 5 to about 15.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) and the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane are reacted in a weight ratio of about 0.1:1 to about 10:1.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aromatic diacid chloride is selected from the group consisting of terephthaloyl chloride, isophthaloyl chloride, 4,4′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 3,3′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 3,4′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 4,4′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 3,3′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 3,4′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 4,4′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), 3,3′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), 3,4′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), naphthalene-2,6-dicarbonyl chloride, and mixtures thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aromatic diacid chloride comprises terephthaloyl chloride.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aromatic diacid chloride is used in an amount sufficient to provide a molar ratio of acid chloride groups to hydroxy groups of about 0.9:1 to 1.05:1.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reacting comprises

combining the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) and the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane; and

adding the aromatic diacid chloride to the combined hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) and hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reacting comprises adding the aromatic diacid chloride and the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane to the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether).

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reacting comprises adding at least a portion of the aromatic diacid chloride to the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether), followed by adding at least a portion of the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane to the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) and the at least a portion of the aromatic diacid chloride.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reacting is conducted in the presence of tertiary amine.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the tertiary amine comprises triethylamine.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer has a number average molecular weight of about 5,000 to about 50,000 atomic mass units.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer comprises at least two poly(arylene ether) blocks and at least two polysiloxane blocks.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer comprises about 5 to about 25 poly(arylene ether) blocks and about 10 to about 30 polysiloxane blocks.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-diterminated poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein each occurrence of Q 3 is independently methyl or di-n-butylaminomethyl; and each occurrence of a and b is independently 0 to about 15, provided that the sum of a and b is, on average, about 4 to about 15;

wherein the hydroxyaryl-diterminated polysiloxane has the structure

wherein n is, on average, about 5 to about 15;

wherein the aromatic diacid chloride comprises terephthaloyl chloride; and

wherein the reacting is conducted in the presence of a tertiary amine.

22. A poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer prepared by the method of claim 1 .

23. A poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer prepared by the method of claim 21 .

24. A poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer, comprising:

at least two poly(arylene ether) blocks having the structure

wherein x and y are each independently 0 to about 100, provided that the sum of x and y is at least 2; each occurrence of Q′ is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; each occurrence of Q 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; and L has the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 1 and R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms, and unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl provided that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl; z is 0 or 1; and Y has a structure selected from the group consisting of

wherein each occurrence of R 3 -R 6 is independently hydrogen or C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl;

at least two polysiloxane blocks having the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 7 is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl or C 1 -C 12 halohydrocarbyl; Y is hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, or halogen; each occurrence of R 8 is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl or C 1 -C 12 halohydrocarbyl; and n is, on average, about 5 to about 100; and

at least three block-linking groups, each block-linking group being the residue of an aromatic diacid chloride.

25. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , wherein the at least two poly(arylene ether) blocks each independently have the structure

wherein each occurrence of Q 3 is independently methyl or di-n-butylaminomethyl; and each occurrence of a and b is independently 0 to about 100, provided that the sum of a and b is, on average, about 3 to about 100.

26. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , wherein the at least two polysiloxane blocks have the structure

wherein n is, on average, about 5 to about 15.

27. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , wherein the aromatic diacid chloride is selected from the group consisting of terephthaloyl chloride, isophthaloyl chloride, 4,4′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 3,3′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 3,4′-biphenyldicarbonyl chloride, 4,4′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 3,3′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 3,4′-oxybis(benzoyl chloride), 4,4′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), 3,3′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), 3,4′-sulfonylbis(benzoyl chloride), naphthalene-2,6-dicarbonyl chloride, and mixtures thereof.

28. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , wherein the aromatic diacid chloride comprises terephthaloyl chloride.

29. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , having a number average molecular weight of about 5,000 to about 50,000 atomic mass units.

30. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , comprising about 5 to about 25 poly(arylene ether) blocks and about 10 to about 30 polysiloxane blocks.

31. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 , wherein at least 10 percent of the block-linking groups link a poly(arylene ether) block and a polysiloxane block.

32. The poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 ,

wherein the at least two poly(arylene ether) blocks have the structure

wherein each occurrence of Q 3 is independently methyl or di-n-butylaminomethyl; and each occurrence of a and b is independently 0 to about 15, provided that the sum of a and b is, on average, about 4 to about 15;

wherein the at least two polysiloxane blocks have the structure

wherein n is, on average, about 5 to about 15; and

wherein the at least three block-linking groups have the structure

33. A composition, comprising:

the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 ; and

an other polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(arylene ether)s, styrenic polymers, polyamides, polyolefins, poly(phenylene sulfide)s, and mixtures thereof.

34. An article comprising the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 22 .

35. An article comprising the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 23 .

36. An article comprising the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 24 .

37. An article comprising the poly(arylene ether)-polysiloxane multiblock copolymer of claim 32 .

38. An article comprising the composition of claim 33 .