Polymers
with silyl ether moieties have been gaining considerable
interest due to both the properties derived from silicon–oxygen
linkages and the acid-, base-, and fluoride ion-triggered degradability.
In this study, 1,3-dioxa-2-silacycloalkanes were demonstrated to function
as promising monomers for the synthesis of silyl ether polymers when
combined with vinyl ethers and aldehydes in cationic terpolymerization
with B(C6F5)3 as a catalyst. Importantly,
all three monomers were indispensable for efficient terpolymerization
via frequent crossover reactions. For example, a degradable terpolymer
with an M
n of 29 × 103 was obtained from a six-membered 1,3-dioxa-2-silacycloalkane, 2-chloroethyl
vinyl ether, and pivalaldehyde, which was superior to both the silyl
monomer homopolymerization yielding a product with an M
n of 3.3 × 103 and the inefficient copolymerizations
in the absence of the silyl monomer, vinyl ether, or aldehyde. Moreover,
the terpolymers likely had ABC-type, pseudo-periodic sequences as
a result of frequent and selective crossover reactions. The resulting
terpolymers have acetal and silyl ether moieties in the main chain,
thus exhibiting acid-, base-, or fluoride ion-triggered degradability.
Indeed, the terpolymer with an M
n of 29
× 103 was smoothly degraded into a product with an M
n of 0.3 × 103 under acidic
conditions. The key to the terpolymerization reaction was the reaction
of an aldehyde with the silyl monomer-derived oxonium ion to generate
a carbocation that can react with a vinyl ether because a vinyl ether
does not react with the silyl monomer-derived oxonium ion.