SYNTHESIS,CHARACTERIZATION AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE COPOLYMERS OF C_(60) AND 1-PHENYL-1-PROPYNE *

While WCl6-Ph4Sn fails to polymerize 1-phenyl-1-propyne (PP) at room temperature, high molecular weight (M-W up to 410 X 10(3)) polymers are obtained in high yields (up to 80\%) when the polymerizations of PP are carried out in the presence of C-60 using the W catalyst under the same conditions. The polymers are soluble in common organic solvents such as THF, chloroform, and toluene. Molecular structures of the polymers are characterized by FT-IR, UV, NMR, GPC and XRD, and it is found that C-60 is copolymerized with PP. Thus C-60 plays the dual roles of comonomer and cocatalyst in the polymerization reaction. C-60 contents of the copolymers can be easily changed by varying the C-60 amounts in the feed mixtures. The copolymers effectively limit strong 532 nm laser pulses, whose limiting performance is superior to that of parent C-60.