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Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization

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Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials

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Definition

In polymer chemistry, ring-opening polymerization is a form of chain-growth polymerization during which the terminal end of the polymer acts as the reactive center for the addition of cyclic monomers to increase the length of the polymer via ionic propagation. The treatment of certain cyclic compounds with a catalyst causes ring cleavage, which is followed by polymerization to afford high-molecular-weight polymers. When the reactive center of the propagating chain is a carbocation in the transition state, the polymerization is denoted cationic ring-opening polymerization. Exemplary cyclic monomers polymerized by this method include the following:

  1. 1.

    Cyclic ethers

  2. 2.

    Cyclic esters (lactones)

  3. 3.

    Cyclic acetals

  4. 4.

    Cyclic amides (lactams)

  5. 5.

    Cyclic amines

  6. 6.

    Cyclic sulfides

  7. 7.

    Cyclic imino ethers

Cyclic Ethers

Propagation during cationic polymerization of cyclic ethers is generally considered to proceed via a tertiary oxonium ion. A variety of initiators, similar to those used...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Frontier Materials, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan

    Akinori Takasu & Terunari Hayashi

Authors
  1. Akinori Takasu
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  2. Terunari Hayashi
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Correspondence to Akinori Takasu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fiber and Textile Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Kobayashi

  2. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

    Klaus Müllen

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Takasu, A., Hayashi, T. (2015). Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization. In: Kobayashi, S., Müllen, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29648-2_176

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