Light-sensitive elastomers modified by 4-(N-dimethylmaleimido)-benzenesulphenyl chloride

New light-sensitive polymers were prepared by modification of four different elastomers with 4-(N-dimethylmaleimido)-benzenesulphenyl chloride (DMI-BSCI). Polydienes modified by DMI-BSCI form block copolymers. These polymers show a strong increase of the glass transition temperature T_g whereby the T_g increase of modified poly(octenamer) is much smaller. Higher modified polydienes have two T_g. Modified poly(octenamers) show a melting temperature dependence T_m on the content of trans double bonds which is characteristic of statistical copolymers. The ratio of rate constants with which trans- and cis-structures in poly(octenamer) are occupied by DMI-BSCI, is

$\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{trans}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{cis}}\text{= 0.34}$