| Abstract: | This study deals with the copolymerization of trioxane (TO) and 1-chloro-2, 3-epoxypropane (epichlorohydrin, ECH) catalyzed by EtB?F3 A⊕lEt2 in toluene. The rate of exhaustion of monomers during copolymerization was measured by gas chromatography. It was established that no homopolymers were formed. The copolymers obtained show a high alkali resistance, indicating a statistical distribution of the ECH in the polymer chain. During the first stages of the copolymerization the ECH is exhausted almost instantaneously, whereas TO is gradually exhausted, finally reaching a certain equilibrium depending both on the quantity of the initial ECH and on the temperature at which the process was carried out. Copolymerization is inhibited at increased ECH levels, and only homopolymerization occurs at a certain critical concentration of ECH. |
