Several new triptycene-containing polyetherolefins were synthesized via acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization. The well-established mechanism, high selectivity and specificity, mild reaction conditions, and well-defined end-groups make the ADMET polymerization a good choice for studying systematic variations in polymer structure. Two types of triptycene-based monomer with varying connectivities were used in the synthesis of homopolymers, block copolymers, and random copolymers. In this way, the influence of the triptycene architecture and concentration in the polymer backbone on the thermal behavior of the polymers was studied. Inclusion of increasing amounts of triptycene were found to increase the glass transition temperature, from 44 degrees C in polyoctenamer to 59 degrees C in one of the hydrogenated triptycene homopolymers (H-PT2). Varying the amounts and orientations of triptycene was found to increase the stiffness (H-PT1), toughness (PT11-b-PO1) and ductility (PT11-ran-PO3) of the polymer at room temperature. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013, 51, 1695-1706