A chiral polyisocyanate, poly[6-{1-[(S)-(–)-2-methylbutyl]oxycarbonylamino}hexyl isocyanate], was synthesized using sodium diphenylmethanide and sodium naphthalenide as unidirectional and bidirectional initiators, respectively, via anionic polymerization in THF at –98°C. NaBPh4 as a common ion salt was used to produce the polymer in quantitative yield and with narrow molecular-weight distribution. The polymer showed different optical activity depending on the nature of the initiator.
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Shin et al. (2001) studied this question.