Thermally Curable Polyoxanorbornene by Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Abstract

AbstractA novel norbornene monomer bearing a thermally curable benzoxazine group is synthesized and polymerized by ROMP using the Grubbs first‐generation ruthenium catalyst. The $\overline {M} _{{\rm w}} $ of the side‐chain benzoxazine functionalized polyoxanorbornene can be up to 87 000 Da with unimodal molecular‐weight distribution and narrow polydispersity between 1.18 and 1.65. Thermally activated ring‐opening polymerization of benzoxazine moieties leads to the formation of highly cross‐linked structures. The effects of molecular weight on the thermal ROP of polybenzoxazine precursors are examined.magnified image