Menthol-based chiral copolymers for polymer optical fibres (POF)

This study investigates the fabrication of menthol-based copolymers for use in polymer optical fibres (POF). A chiral monomer, (−)-menthyl methacrylate ((−)-MnMA) derived from (−)-menthol, was synthesized that displays a specific rotation of [α]20D (neat) = −90. It was further copolymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) either in bulk or in solution viafree radical polymerization. PMMA-co-P(−)-MnMA copolymers synthesized in bulk yielded turbid polymers, whereas copolymer synthesized in solution with 50 mol% (−)-MnMA feed was transparent with some optical rotation, and compatible for drawing into fibres. Hence, PMMA-co-P(−)-MnMA in the current study is a potential chiral material for use in POF.