Initiation Mechanism and Chain Scission in the Cationic Polymerization of Oxygen-Containing Cyclic Monomers.

In the reported experiments, the copolymerization of tetrahydrofuran with propylene oxide was investigated by using antimony pentachloride catalyst and methacrylic anhydride additive. It is demonstrated that the initiation as well as chain propagation took place simultaneously in active centers of internal oxonium and trialkyloxonium salts. An incorporation of the chlorine into oligomer molecule has been caused by the breaking of active centers through a combined effect of zwitter-ions and anti-ions.