COORDINATIVE POLYMERIZATION OF P-SUBSTITUTED PHENYL GLYCIDYL ETHERS .1. EFFECT OF ELECTRON-DONATING GROUPS

A series of p-substituted glycidyl phenyl ethers(a)) with electron don or groups was prepared using a multistep synthetic method. These compo unds were polymerized using four of the most common aluminium-based co ordinative initiators, (C2H5)(3)Al/H2O (the Vandenberg catalyst), (C2H 5)(3)Al/CH3COCH2COCH3/H2O (the Vandenberg chelate catalyst), [(CH3)(2) CHO](2)Al-O-Zn-O-Al[OCH(CH3)(2)](2) (the Teyssie catalyst) and [(CH3)( 2)CHO](3)Al/ZnCl2 (the Price catalyst), all with different Lewis acid character. The influence of the electron-donor group on the characteri stics and conversion was studied. Generally speaking, both the Vandenb erg and the Teyssie catalysts yield mostly an insoluble polymer fracti on, whereas the Price catalyst was shown to be the most stereoselectiv e catalyst. Moreover, the Vandenberg chelate catalyst gave the highest molecular weight, the Price catalyst the lowest. Thermal characterist ics of polymers were studied by means of differential thermal analysis to obtain glass transition temperatuures, melting temperatures and fu sion enthalpies.