Polymers from 2‐allyloxymethyl‐2‐ethyltrimethylene carbonate and copolymers with 2,2‐dimethyltrimethylene carbonate obtained by anionic ring‐opening polymerization

Abstract 2‐Allyloxymethyl‐2‐ethyltrimethylene carbonate ( 1 ) was polymerized in toluene with sec ‐butyllithium as initiator. The resulting product exhibits a bimodal molecular weight distribution. The low‐molecular‐weight fraction consists mainly of cyclic oligomers and to a minor portion of acyclic oligomers. With 2,2‐dimethyltrimethylene carbonate ( 2 ) as a comonomer, statistical and block copolymers were obtained upon addition of the initiator to a mixture of the monomers or upon consecutive addition of the monomers to the initiator, respectively. The primary structure of these copolymers was unambiguously determined by means of 13 C NMR spectroscopy of especially the carbonyl region, since the carbonyl carbon atom is a sensitive probe for structural changes in its neighbourhood. All polymers were crosslinked upon using di‐ tert ‐butyl peroxide as a source of radicals. The thermal behaviour of the polymers before and after crosslinking was studied.