The cationic polymerization of 3-methyl-3-(phthalimidomethyl)oxetane (1) afforded two kinds
of polymers. One was a polyacetal, i.e., poly{oxy(8,9-benzo-4-methyl-7-oxo-2,6-oxazabicyclo[4.3]nona-8-ene-1,4-diyl)methylene} (3), produced at 50 °C and below, and the other was a polyether, i.e., poly[oxy(2-methyl-2-phthalimidomethyltrimethylene)] (4), produced at 80 °C and above. This new polymerization
with the two ring-opening courses was accompanied by the monomer-isomerization process of 1 to give
5,6-benzo-1-methyl-8,11,3-dioxazatricyclo[5.2.2.03,7]undeca-5-en-4-one (2). The cyclic acetal 2, therefore,
functioned as the real monomer, and either single or double ring-opening polymerization took place to
give 3 or 4, respectively, depending on the reaction temperature. The strain of 2 for ring-opening is
discussed on the basis of the result of X-ray structure analysis. The single ring-opening process of 2 was
an equilibrium polymerization having the standard enthalpy and entropy changes in dichloromethane
equal to −15.8 kJ mol-1 and −46.0 J mol-1 K-1, respectively, and the ceiling temperature (T
c) equal to
70.1 °C for 1 mol L-1 solution. The critical temperature, where the structure of the product polymer
changed, was related to a T
c calculated for the conditions employed (59.1 °C for polymerization in 0.83
mol L-1 dichloromethane solution). Therefore, 3 was successfully transformed to 4 with a thermal latent
catalyst at a higher temperature than the T
c through the ring-closure depolymerization of 3 to 2 followed
by the repolymerization of 2 in the double ring-opening manner. When 1 was polymerized in a temperature
step-down mode, a block copolymer with the 3-4 sequence was prepared from the single monomer.
Moreover, 1 was copolymerized with a nonisomerizable oxetane, accompanying the monomer isomerization
of 1.
