ABSTRACT:The gels of the rare earth metal silicate such as yttrium, neodymium, or samarium were found to be the effective solid catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of oxetane. The silicate gels were prepared by the cogelation of sodium metasilicate and the rare metal chloride from an acidic aqueous solution through the neutralization by an aqueous ammonia, the surface areas of which were in the range from 142 to 213 m 2 g À1 . The ring opening polymerization of oxetane proceeded readily at 20 C in the presence of a catalytic amount of the silicate gels, in which the content of the rare earth metal was 10 mol % to oxetane. The silicate gel of yttrium, which enabled the quantitative formation of the corresponding polymer, was the most effective solid acid among those of the rare earth metals employed in this work. [DOI 10.1295/polymj.37.262] KEY WORDS Metal Silicate / Rare Earth Metal / Oxetane / Ring Opening Polymerization / Solid Acid / In the practical procedures for effective ring opening reaction of cyclic ethers, the uses of various solid materials have been well known.1,2 In the solid catalysts, several derivatives based on silica such as aluminum silicates, titanium silicates, natural clay minerals and zeolites are reported to be effective for the ring opening reaction leading to 1,2-difunctionalized compounds from oxiranes. [3][4][5][6] Recently, in polymer synthesis, the silica derivatives have been employed for the well defined ring opening polymerization of 1,2-epoxide 7 and lactones. [8][9][10] The enhancement of such ring opening reaction is explained by Brønsted and Lewis acidity with an appropriate reaction environment provided by the catalysts. On the other hand, in the fields of organic synthesis, the rare earth metal ions are successfully utilized as the effective Lewis acids.11,12 Although rare earth metals does not act as the simple Lewis acids, their alkoxides and complexes are also applied to synthesis of polymeric compounds through ring opening polymerization. [13][14][15][16][17] From those facts, the silicate gel of rare earth metal, which shows Brønsted and/or Lewis acidity, are thought to be a promising useful solid catalyst. However, the previous investigations concerning the rare earth metal silcates have been focused on their physical and optical properties. [18][19][20][21][22][23] The catalytic use of such silicates in organic reactions has not been developed so far and seems to be left as an interesting theme.
24Very recently, the polymeric products obtained from oxetanes have been attracted much attention, which can be used for adhesives instead of those from oxiranes. [25][26][27][28] The ring opening polymerization of oxetanes has been usually conducted by the use of cationic species. [29][30][31] These previous works promise that the silicate gel of rare earth metal is effective for the ring opening polymerization. Furthermore, the use of solid acid, which can be removed easily from a reaction mixture and reused, should provide a practical and convenient procedure ...