PROCESS FOR PRODUCING HYDROGENATED BLOCK COPOLYMER, HYDROGENATED BLOCK COPOLYMER OBTAINED BY THE PROCESS, AND COMOSITION THEREOF

摘要

Disclosed is a process for producing a hydrogenated block copolymer which comprises the step (a) of reacting a living polymer having a specific structure with a tetra- or higher-functional silane coupling agent to form a block copolymer, the step (b) of hydrogenating the block copolymer to form a hydrogenated block copolymer, the step (c) of recovering the resultant hydrogenated block copolymer, and the step (d) of deactivating, prior to the step (c), the functional groups of the silane coupling agent and/or the unreacted functional groups present in the coupling agent moieties contained in the block copolymer or hydrogenated block copolymer, wherein the number of functional groups derived from the coupling agent and contained in the hydrogenated block copolymer recovered in the step (c) is 1.5 or smaller per molecule of the block copolymer. Also disclosed are a hydrogenated block copolymer obtained by the process and a composition containing the hydrogenated block copolymer.