Non-linear effect of 18-crown-6 in propylene oxide polymerization with potassium glycidoxide used as the inimer

A new initiating system containing potassium glycidoxide as the inimer and 18-crown-6 as the activator was used for propylene oxide polymerization. It was found that the rate of the reaction increased together with the crown ether concentration in a rather unexpected way. Two maxima of that parameter were found in the case of crown ether : inimer molar ratio equal to 3:1 and 6:1. On the other hand, the molecular weight of polymers showed two minima in those conditions. The heterogeneity of the reaction mixture and interactions between species present in the system could be responsible for the phenomena observed. The polydispersity of the polymers obtained was equal to about 1.2 and it was independent of the crown ether concentration.