Kinetics and mechanism of the cationic polymerization of tetrahydrofuran in solution. THF–CH2Cl2 and THF–CH2Cl2/CH3NO2 systems

Cationic polymerization of tetrahydrofuran (THF) in CH₂Cl₂ solvent and in mixed CH₂Cl₂/CH₃NO₂ solvent was initiated with 1,3-dioxolan-2-ylium cations with AsF and SbF anions. Dissociation constants of the polytetrahydrofuranium ion pairs into ions were measured (e.g., K_D = 1.5 × 10^?5M at 25°C and THF]₀ = 7.0M; CH₂Cl₂ solvent) and were found to be more than 100 times lower than in CH₃NO₂ solvent at the same THF]₀ and temperature. The rate constants k and k, measured for degrees of dissociation ranging from 0.03 to 0.35 in CH₂Cl₂, were the same within an experimental error of measurements (±15% of the value of k_p). Dependence of k( = k = k) on the dielectric constant was a monotonous function in three different solvents, namely, CCl₄, CH₂Cl₂, and CH₃NO₂, which covered a large range of dielectric constants of the medium (from D = 5 to D = 22) and degrees of dissociation of the macroion pairs, α (from 0.03 to more than 0.70). Thus a decrease in the dielectric constant increases the rate constant k in the whole range of studied polarities of the medium. This result confirms an earlier conclusion that the rate constant of propagation does not depend on the state of aggregation of ions and k = k.