contacting with a suitable basic reagent examples include ammonium and metal hydroxides particularly the alkali metal hydroxides particularly desirable metal salts of methacrylic acid include sodium potassium aluminum tin zinc or nickel salts by such techniques ionomeric block copolymers containing methacrylic acid salt moieties are prepared although any desired amount of neutralization of the acid functionality may be employed in a preferred embodiment from about 1 to about 75 percent by weight of the functional moieties of the block polymer are the neutral salts thereof in other respects the neutralization process to produce ionomeric functionality in the resulting block polymers is as previously known in the art having described the invention the following examples are provided as further illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting block copolymers 1a a diblock utilizing 1 1 diphenyl 3 methylhexyl lithium initiator and 1b a triblock using 1 4 dilithio 1 1 4 4 tetraphenyl butane initiator comprising t butyl methacrylate and 2 ethylhexylmethacrylate in the amounts indicated in table i were prepared and characterized a portion of each was then subjected to hydrolysis to yield the corresponding block copolymers 2a 2b containing 2 ethylhexylmethacrylate and methacrylic acid moieties potassium containing block ionomers 3a 3b were subsequently prepared by neutralization of a portion of the block copolymers 2a and 2b.