Thermally stable high molecular weight polyoxymethylenes

Abstract In this, the first of a series of five papers, the historical development of formaldehyde polymers, beginning with the work of Butlerov and continuing through the investigations of Staudinger and his collaborators, is reviewed. Recent studies in these laboratories have led to thermally stable high polymers of formaldehyde. Initiators and the role of impurities in the polymerization are described. An explanation is offered to account for differences in thermal stabilities between old and new polymers. Esterification, by which further increases in thermal stability are achieved, is described. It is proposed that the generic term “acetal resin” be used to described high polymers that are composed of repeating oxymethylene units.