Metal-free ring-opening polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether by tetrabutylammonium fluoride

A controlled ring-opening polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) under an argon atmosphere using a commercially available metal-free initiator tetrabutylamminoum fluirode was analyzed. The results show that the polymerization of GPE at 100 °C for 180 min with 5.0% of tetrabutylamminoum fluirode obtains the corresponding polymer with a narrow and unimodal SEC profile. The concentration of the propagating species of GPE is almost constant during polymerization and a slight decrease in the polymerization rate at the later stage is due to a deactivation or increased viscosity. The fluoride anion nucleophilically attacks the methylene of GPE and subsequently ring-opens GPE to form a tetrabutylamminoum alkoxide. The stability of propagating ends in GPE is shown by the unimodal elution peaks that shift to a higher molecular weight region from that of perpolymer.