The Synthesis, Characterization, and Photoinitiated Cationic Polymerizaton of Difunctional Oxetanes

Abstract Seven novel difunctional oxetane monomers have been prepared and characterized using standard spectroscopic techniques. The photoinitiated cationic polymerization of these seven monomers was carried out and their reactivity compared to a typical diepoxide monomer. In these studies the reactivities of the various oxetane monomers were evaluated and compared by three different techniques: gel time measurements, differential scanning photocalorimetry, and real time infrared spectroscopy. It was observed that the difunctional oxetanes are generally more reactive than their structurally similar epoxide counterparts in photoinitiated cationic polymerization.