Synthesis and metathesis polymerization of 5,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)norbornene-2

5,5-Bis(trimethylsilyl)norbornene-2 was synthesized in a yield of 60% via the scheme of diene condensation of cyclopentadiene with 1,1-bis(trimethylsilyl)ethylene and subsequent methylation of the resulting adduct with methyllithium. Its metathesis polymerization was first performed on W and Ru catalysts with yields of up to 98%. The structure of the new polymer was determined by means of the NMR and IR techniques. The tungsten catalyst makes it possible to prepare the polymer with a 40% amount of trans-double bonds, whereas the ruthenium catalyst is more selective and yields the polymer that contains almost 100% trans-double bonds. A high glass transition temperature as compared to other silicon-substituted metathesis polynorbornenes (196-203 degrees C) indicates a high rigidity of the polymer chain and suggests that the polymer will have good gas-separation properties.