Study of photopolymers. XVI. Novel syntheses of the polymers with azidonitrobenzoyl groups and their photochemical and thermochemical reactions

Poly‐2‐(2‐azido‐5‐nitrobenzoyloxy)ethylmethacrylate (P‐II‐A) and poly‐2‐(4‐azido‐3‐nitrobenzoyloxy)ethylmethacrylate (P‐II‐B) were synthesized from the reactions of 2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate with 2‐chloro‐5‐nitrobenzoic acid and 4‐chloro‐3‐nitrobenzoic acid, respectively, by substitution reactions of sodium azide with the corresponding chloronitrobenzoyl group. In addition, the degradation reaction of the 2‐azido‐5‐nitrobenzoyl group in P‐II‐A and the transformation of the 4‐azido‐3‐nitrobenzoyl group to 5‐carboxylbenzofurazane‐1‐oxide ring in P‐II‐B by irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light or by heating were investigated in detail. In the photochemical reaction the reaction of the azide group in P‐II‐A was affected by the presence of a spacer in the polymer chain. Moreover, in the thermochemical reaction the rates of the reactions of azide groups in P‐II‐A and P‐II‐B were controlled by the facility of molecular motion and the conformation of polymer chains.