Review and Future of Ionic Polymerization with Special Emphasis on Carbonyl Polymerization

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Abstract
Ionic polymerization received prominence about 35 years ago when isobutylene was commercially polymerized by two processes which, with some modifications, are still used today [1]. One process uses aluminum chloride as the initiator and the other uses boron trifluoride; both cationic polymerization processes are carried out at low temperatures. A number of additional commercial processes based on cationic and anionic polymerization have since been developed. Cyclic ethers, most prominently tetrahydrofuran, are polymerized cationically to relatively low molecular weight hydroxyl terminated polyethers which have found important uses in polyurethanes. Trioxane is copolymerized with a small amount of ethylene oxide to form a useful copolymer of polyoxymethylene. Other products which are of interest are the polymers of caprolactone and epichlorohydrin and polymers of various epoxides, mainly those of glycidyl ethers which are most commonly known as epoxy resins. Anionic polymerization on a commercial scale has developed along the lines of styrene and isoprene polymers. Stereorubber, stereoregular 1,4-cis isoprenes, are based on lithium initiators and were introduced in the middle 1950s. Triblock polymers based on A-B-A block polymers of isobutylene with styrene as endblocks and prepared from living polymers have been known since the early 1960s.
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