Oligomerization and cyclization of 1‐phenoxy‐2,3‐epoxypropane induced by magnesium perchlorate

During the reaction of 1‐phenoxy‐2,3‐epoxypropane ( 1 ) with catalytic amounts of Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 a variety of reaction products are formed which do not correpond to a normally distributed oligomer range. Essentially, three reaction paths can be distinguished which lead to oligo‐(hydroxyether)s of similar structure ( 6 and 8 ) and to cyclic, isomeric dimers ( 9 and 10 ) of very low reactivity. During the reaction of bifunctional 2,3‐epoxypropyl ethers, cyclic products act as nonreactive diluents decreasing the network density of the final crosslinked product.