ABSTRACT:Dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde was prepared from methyl dichlorofluoroacetate by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride. Highly purified dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde was polymerized using various cationic and anionic initiators to a crystalline insoluble polymer or an amorphous soluble polymer, depending on polymerization conditions. It could be stabilized and the thermal degradation behavior was compared with polymers of other perhaloacetaldehydes. The monomer was also copolymerized with other haloacetaldehydes and phenyl isocyanate.KEY WORDS Dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde / Dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde Hydrate / Poly(dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde) / Copolymerization with Chloral / Cationic Polymerization / Anionic Polymerization Acetylation / End Capping / Polymer Degradation / Dichlorofluoroacetaldehyde polymerization was studied to learn more about the effects of molecular structure on the physical and chemical properties of perhaloacetaldehydes and their polymers; such as polymerizability, ceiling temperature, crystallinity, and thermal stability, in a series of perhaloacetaldehydes which have been investigated.Trichloroacetaldehyde, chloral, can be polymerized1-6 only to an infusible crystalline polymer insoluble in organic solvents. 1 · 2 Trifluoroacetaldehyde, fluoral, has been polymerized to crystalline 6 -8 or a mixture of crystalline and amorphous (presumably atactic) polyacetal depending on polymerization conditions. 9 This difference in polymerization is apparently caused by the smaller size of the fluorine atoms compared with the chlorine atoms. The crystalline forms of polychloral 2 and polyfluoral 8 are presumed to be isotactic polymers. Both polymers have been prepared with anionic and cationic initiators.It was concluded that in the polymerization * Part VII: B. Yamada, R.W. Campbell, and 0.Vogl, J. Polym. Sci. Chem. Ed., in press.