Hydroboration of styryl-terminated polystyrene with bifunctional thexylborane

Summary

Hydroboration reaction of the terminal double bond of polystyrene with thexylborane gave the polymer bearing one organoboron unit at the center of the polymer, whose molecular weight was found to be doubled in comparison with the starting polymer. The obtained polymer was subjected to the novel polymer reaction with α,α-dichloromethyl methyl ether (DCME) followed by the oxidative treatment. A polymer having one tertiary alcohol unit at the center in the main chain was produced without obvious decrease of the molecular weight.