Creation of New Reactions of Oxetanes and their Application to Polymer Synthesis

We succeeded the synthesis of new functional polymers by novel ring-opening addition reactions of bis(oxetane)s with diacyl chlorides, di(active ester)s, and di(carboxylic acid)s using quaternary onium salts as catalysts at appropriate conditions. Hyperbranched polyesters with many pendant hydroxy groups were also synthesized by the polyaddition of bis(oxetane)s with tricarboxylic acid, or by the self-polyadditions of $AB_2\;or\;A_2B$ type monomers containing oxetane group. The anionic ring-opening polymerization of (3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyl)oxetane was examined using sodium tert-buthoxide to give hyperbranched poly(ether)s containing one oxetanyl group and many hydroxyl groups in the end of polymer chain.