Mechanism of initiation of polymerization of cyclic ethers by tetrahydrofuranate of boron trifluoride

Abstract The mechanism of the initiation of polymerization of epichlorohydrin and its copolymerization with tetrahydrofuran, with boron trifluoride tetrahydrofuranate and triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate, has been studied by [19F]NMR. It was shown that the initiation by Lewis acid resulted in the formation of an active centre of zwitterionic nature.