A new type of functional polymer: Preparation and crosslinking of poly(allenyl glycidyl ether)

Abstract The radical polymerization behavior of alkoxyallene containing the epoxy group, allenyl glycidyl ether ( I ), was investigated to obtain the more reactive polymer. The desired polymer was successfully synthesized only by the copolymerization of I with acrylonitrile (AN) at 80°C in DMF, although the homopolymer of I was converted to the crosslinked polymer during its purification. The same number of epoxy and two kinds of methylene groups were simultaneously introduced onto the polymer through propagating allyl radical. The obtained copolymer, therefore, was readily converted to the gelled polymer with methods such as heating and treating with Lewis acids or amines. Further, the copolymer containing two kinds of methylene groups was prepared similarly from methoxyallene ( II ) and AN, and was also converted to the crosslinked polymer with the cationic catalyst. These copolymers of I or II with AN will be expected to be new types of reactive polymers.