| Abstract: | The copolymerizations of l-menthyl vinyl ether (l-MVE) with styrene (St) and N-phenylmaleimide (N-PMI) as comonomers were carried out in benzene with azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator to give optically active copolymers. After the removal of the optically active menthyl group by use of hydrogen bromide gas, the ether-cloven l-MVE-N-PMI copolymer (VA-N-PMI) was still optically active. On the other hand, the optical activity of l-MVE-St copolymer disappeared after ether cleavage. It is thought that asymmetric induction took place in the polymer main chains. The optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism of the original and ether-cloven copolymers were measured in order to confirm the asymmetric induction. |
