Amphiphilic copolymers of glycidol with nonpolar epoxide comonomers

Abstract To explore the industrially used copolymerization of glycidol with other epoxide species, a series of copolymers of glycidol with various comonomers (epichlorohydrin, isopropyl glycidyl ether, 1,2‐epoxybutane, propylene oxide, and glycidyl phenyl ether) has been synthesized by cationic ring‐opening polymerization in dichloromethane, using boron trifluoride diethyl etherate as the initiator. The facile synthesis proceeded at room temperature under ordinary atmosphere. The air‐ and temperature‐stable products—mostly clear, colorless, viscous liquids—are proposed to consist of a hyperbranched polyglycidol core (incorporating varying fractions of comonomer) with arms made from comonomer‐derived repeat units. These copolymers had low molecular weights and rather broad molecular weight distributions. There was wide variation in the polarity of these copolymers, depending on the comonomer used, resulting in materials that were soluble in solvents ranging from benzene to water. The glass‐transition temperatures observed for these copolymers also varied widely, ranging from −56 to 1°C. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 2290–2299, 2001