ASYMMETRIC INDUCTION CO-POLYMERIZATION - CATIONIC CO-POLYMERIZATION OF 1-MENTHYL VINYL ETHER WITH INDENE AND ACENAPHTHYLENE

In the reported experiments, 1-menthyl vinyl ether (l-MVE) was homopolymerized and copolymerized with the monomers indene (IN) and acenaphthylene (ANp) by BF//3OEt//2 as a catalyst. The chiral menthyl substituent was cloven from the homopolymers and copolymers using dry-hydrogen bromide gas. After the removal of optically active menthyl group, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) from l-MVE homopolymer was optically inactive, and copolymers (VA-IN, VA-ANp) from l-MVE-IN and l-MVE-ANp copolymers were still optically active. Hence, in the case of l-MVE homopolymer, it was concluded that asymmetric induction in the polymer main chain can only produce pseudoasymmetry. In the case of l-MVE-IN and l-MVE-ANp copolymers, it was found that asymmetric induction proceeded in the copolymer main chain and was caused by the influence of chiral menthyl group.