SOPHISTICATED MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURES BY CATIONIC RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATIONS

A combination of different types of cationic ring-opening polymerizati ons (CROPs) has been used to construct macromolecular structures conta ining polymer segments with different physicochemical properties. The cyclic monomers used are tetrahydrofuran (THF), N-tert-butyl aziridine (TBA), 2-methyl-1,3-oxazoline (MeOX) and 1,3-dioxolane (DXL). The mac romolecular structures include different block and graft copolymers, t elechelics and macromonomers, star- and comb-shaped polymers, polymer networks and interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs).