Thiol‐ene cationic and radical reactions were conducted for 1:1 addition between a thiol and vinyl ether, and also for cyclization and step‐growth polymerization between a dithiol and divinyl ether. p‐Toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) induced a cationic thiol‐ene reaction to generate a thioacetal in high yield, whereas 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile resulted in a radical thiol‐ene reaction to give a thioether, also in high yield. The cationic and radical addition reactions between a dithiol and divinyl ether with oxyethylene units yielded amorphous poly(thioacetal)s and crystalline poly(thioether)s, respectively. Under high‐dilution conditions, the cationic and radical reactions resulted in 16‐ and 18‐membered cyclic thioacetal and thioether products, respectively. Furthermore, concurrent cationic and radical step‐growth polymerizations were realized using PTSA under UV irradiation to produce polymers having both thioacetal and thioether linkages in the main chain.

A novel strategy for synthesizing a series of multiblock copolymers is developed by combining radical/cationic step‐growth polymerizations of dithiols and divinyl ethers and chain‐growth cationic degenerative chain‐transfer (DT) polymerizations of vinyl ethers using thioacetals as key components. The combination of radical step‐growth polymerization and a cationic thiol‐ene reaction or cationic step‐growth polymerization enables the synthesis of a series of macro chain‐transfer agents (CTAs) composed of poly(thioether) and thioacetal groups at different positions. The resulting products are 1) bifunctional macro CTAs with thioacetal groups at both chain ends, 2) periodic macro CTAs periodically having thioacetal groups in the main chain, and 3) random macro CTAs randomly having thioacetal groups in the main chain. Subsequently, the obtained macro CTAs are used for chain‐growth cationic DT polymerization of methoxyethyl vinyl ether (MOVE) to result in 1) triblock, 2) periodic, and 3) random multiblock copolymers consisting of poly(thioether) and poly(MOVE) segments. All these triblock and multiblock copolymers composed of hydrophobic poly(thioether) and hydrophilic poly(MOVE) segments show an amphiphilic tendency to form characteristic micelles in aqueous solutions. In addition, due to the thermoresponsive poly(MOVE) segments, the obtained copolymers exhibit lower critical solution temperatures that depend on the segment sequences and lengths.

Thiol‐ene cationic and radical reactions were conducted for 1:1 addition between a thiol and vinyl ether, and also for cyclization and step‐growth polymerization between a dithiol and divinyl ether. p‐Toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) induced a cationic thiol‐ene reaction to generate a thioacetal in high yield, whereas 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile resulted in a radical thiol‐ene reaction to give a thioether, also in high yield. The cationic and radical addition reactions between a dithiol and divinyl ether with oxyethylene units yielded amorphous poly(thioacetal)s and crystalline poly(thioether)s, respectively. Under high‐dilution conditions, the cationic and radical reactions resulted in 16‐ and 18‐membered cyclic thioacetal and thioether products, respectively. Furthermore, concurrent cationic and radical step‐growth polymerizations were realized using PTSA under UV irradiation to produce polymers having both thioacetal and thioether linkages in the main chain.