Step-Growth Photopolymerizations.

This report is divided into two parts. The first part describes an attempt to extend earlier work on step-growth photopolymerization leading to polyoxetanes to the synthesis of fluorinated polyoxetanes. This work, which was the primary objective of the research, was unfruitful. A variety of olefin and carbonyl containing monomers were prepared but all polymerization attempts failed. The second part of the report describes work undertaken in response to the difficulties encountered with the initial project, several topics involving the use of aromatic carbonyl compounds as components of potential step-growth photoreductive photopolymerizations were investigated. Some work was carried out on photoreductive polymerization leading to polypinacols, and the possibility of extending this approach to the synthesis of polymers with pentaphenylglycerol or tetraphenylethanol repeat units was also examined. This work led to the synthesis of some novel polymers and provided information on the limitations of some photochemical reactions.