Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) was used to study the organolithium initiated ring-opening polymerization of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D 3 ) in a mixed solvent system. The mass spectral peak intensities were monitored to determine the effects of polymerization time, initiator concentration, and reaction temperature on the formation of the mono, di, and trisiloxanolate initiator species and the extent of chain redistribution. The three initiator species were formed by reacting n-butyllithium and sec-butyllithium with D 3 in nonpolar solvent. The mass spectral results showed that sec-butyllithium and n-butyllithium form different populations of initiator species under the same conditions and that the measured mass spectral peak intensities do not accurately represent the population of siloxanolate initiator species prior to propagation. The changes in peak intensities were attributed to chain redistribution. . The molecular weight and product purity in these systems are difficult to control because both methods are susceptible to side reactions that broaden the polydispersity (M w /M n ). The most common side reactions are chain redistribution and cyclization shown in Scheme 1. Chain redistribution occurs when a propagating chain reacts with another chain to remove a segment of polymer without terminating the reaction. Cyclization occurs when a propagating chain reacts with itself to form cyclic species (D 3 , D 4 , D 5 , etc.). This type of side reaction is commonly referred to as chain backbiting. Lee et al. [3] first reported a new method for producing narrow molecular weight PDMS that was free of cyclic impurities. It was shown that n-butyllithium opened the D 3 ring in nonpolar solvents to form lithium siloxanolate initiators but did not propagate without the addition of a small amount (1-3%) of base promoting solvent (in this case these include polar aprotic solvents such as DMSO and THF). The control of the initiator basicity coupled with the high reactivity of the D 3 monomer significantly reduced chain redistribution and eliminated the formation of cyclic impurities.The reaction between organolithium initiators and D 3 is not well understood due in large part to the unique behavior of the initiators and the lithium counterions in solution. Organolithium compounds associate in nonpolar solvents to form aggregated species of various degrees due to the electron deficient nature of the lithium atom [4]. N-butyllithium, for example, forms a hexameric aggregate [5] whereas sec-butyllithium forms a tetrameric aggregate [6] in hydrocarbon solvents. Studies involving the reaction of organolithium species with styrene [7,8] and dienes [8,9] have shown that the degree of association directly affects the reactivity. The less associated organolithium species are found to be generally more reactive. Upon reacting with D 3 , it has been proposed that the lithium counter ions associate to form lithium siloxanolate aggregates. The degree to which these proposed structures are associated and the mech...