Behavior of polymers containing spiroorthoester or bicycloorthoester structure under EB and X‐ray irradiation conditions

Reaction behavior of spiroorthoester and bicycloorthoester to EB and X‐ray irradiations has been studied on the basis of infrared spectroscopic analysis. The polymers containing these functional groups showed markedly high sensitivity to EB and X‐ray. The formations of CO and OH after exposure indicate that these functional groups react through ring opening even in the absence of any cationic catalyst. In the high energy‐induced reaction, sensitivity and post‐irradiation polymerization effect were found to be greatly influenced by the polymer structure, different from those observed in the cation‐induced reaction.