THE SYNTHESIS AND CATIONIC PHOTOPOLYMERIZATION OF NOVEL MONOMERS

A series of aromatic monomers bearing two, three, four, and six cationically polymerizable vinyl, isopropenyl, or propenyl functional groups were prepared using readily available starting materials and characterized. The reactivity of the resulting monomers in photoinitiated cationic polymerization was studied using differential scanning photocalorimetry. The results of mechanistic investigations suggest that the polymerizations involve a stepwise condensation of the monomers followed by an intramolecular ring closure to form indane repeating units along the backbone of the polymer chains.