| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Cationic ring-opening polymerization of 3-ethyl-3-hydroxylmethyl oxetane was carried out using BF3·O(C2H5)2 as initiator, and a branched polyether was formed. Typical SEC curves show that the polymer consists of two fractions: one has higher molecular weight (11.7×104～ 9.2×104) and the other has lower molecular weight (3.8×103～4.0×103). This probably resulted from the chain-tran sfer reaction of two propagating polymer chains. The structure of the polyEHMO formed was characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectra. The degree of branching is mainly affected by the propagation mechanism. As the molar ratio of [I]0/[EHMO]0 in feed increased, the degree of branching also increased. |
