NEW VISTAS IN SYNTHESIS OF OPTICALLY-ACTIVE POLYMERS

A rational approach has been developed for unequivocally establishing asymmetric induction in the back bone of vinyl polymers based on 1,2-d isubstituted and 1-substituted olefins. Towards this end, the principl e of protecting group chemistry has been utilized to connect chiral au xiliaries to functional monomers in the form of boronate esters and az omethine linkages. This approach enables to remove the auxiliaries qua ntitatively after polymerization. For 1,2-disubstituted olefin based s ystems, the role of the type of chiral auxiliary used, nature of comon omers and the location of the chiral auxiliaries with respect to the p olymerizable group on enantioselectivity has been elucidated. A diviny l functional monomer bearing chiral auxiliary in the form of azomethin e protecting group has been synthesized from readily accessible precur sors. This monomer was found to undergo asymmetric cyclopolymerization -tion. An overview of the results obtained from these investigations i s presented.