Synthesis and properties of novel polymers having S-methyldibenzothiophenium salt moieties

A polymer having dibenzothiophenium salt moieties [poly(sulfonium salt), 2 ] was prepared by the reaction of poly(2-vinyldibenzothiophene) ( 1 ) with CH₃I and AgBF₄ in CH₂ClCH₂Cl at room temperature for 24 h. The obtained polymer 2 was found to contain 71% of the methyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate unit. A monomer carrying the sulfonium salt moiety, i.e., 5-methyl-2-vinyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate ( 4 ), was independently prepared and subjected to radical polymerization to give a polymer ( 5 ) in 88% yield (methyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate unit: 79%). The thermal decompositions of 2 and 5 took place in two steps; the first step involved the formation of polymer 1 by demethylation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1779–1784, 1998