Synthesis of polymethacrylate‐bearing benzocyclobutene structure and extension to networked polymer based on thermal isomerization

1‐Benzocyclobutenyl methacrylate‐bearing methacrylate (BCBMA) backbone has been synthesized, and radical polymerization of the monomer was performed by utilizing 2, 2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator to result poly‐BCBMA. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement of the derived poly‐BCBMA revealed the lowering of thermal isomerization temperature from that of nonsubstituted benzocyclobutene. The thermal decomposition temperature of BCBMA before and after thermal treatment was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of the TGA observation did not show significant difference in both 5% and 10% weight loss temperature (T_d5 and T_d10). This result suggests that the thermal conversion of the poly‐BCBMA to the networked polymer take place without thermal decomposition of the main chain based on the methacrylate framework. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2175–2180