Abstract
This paper describes a fundamental study on a foaming cross-linking based on decarboxylative ring-opening oligomerization of five-membered cyclic carbonates. Tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) is an effective initiator for the quantitative decarboxylation in the ring-opening oligomerization of mono-functional five-membered cyclic carbonates. The cooligomerization with epoxides was effective to increase molecular weights. A film of a partially carbonated poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (Mw = 76600, Mn = 23600, and carbonation degree = 29%) containing TBAF was cross-linked by heating, and foamed products insoluble in common organic solvents were obtained.
