Novel fluorinated polymer from 18-crown-6 by radical polyaddition

Radical polyaddition of bis(α-trifluoromethyl-β,β-difluorovinyl) terephthalate [CF2C(CF3)OCOC6H4COOC(CF3)CF2] (BFP) with 18-crown-6 to produce fluorinated polymer bearing crown ether moiety in main chain is described. Prior to polyaddition, the model reaction of 2-benzoxypentafluoropropene [CF2C(CF3)OCOC6H5] (BPFP) with 18-crown-6 was investigated to afford suitable reactions condition for polyaddition. The polyaddition of BFP with 18-crown-6 yielded a soluble polymer bearing Mn=5.5×104 with unimodal molecular weight distribution after purification by reprecipitation with cold ethanol.