NMR study of the propagation center in cationic polymerization of N-benzoyl-8-octanelactam. I. The structure of model living oligomers

Model living oligomers of N-benzoyl-8-octanelactam initiated by the model octanoylium hexachloroantimonate, SbCl₅, and by Ph₃C⁺ AsF₆^?, were studied by ¹H and ¹³C one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance using the COSY, S-INEPT, COLOC, and ROESY methods. If prepared in the more solvating mixture of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TCE) with 1,2-dichlorobenzene, the oligomers were found to be linear with the acylium ion as a living group on one end; in TCE only, the oligomers are highly branched. In both cases, the propagation center appears to be strongly coordinated to the nearest benzoylamide chain group. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.