Synthesis of high‐performance polyurethanes with rigid 5‐6‐5‐fused ring system in the main chain from naturally occurring <i>myo</i>‐inositol

Abstract

ABSTRACT A bisketal of myo‐ inositol was used as a diol‐type monomer for synthesis of polyurethanes. The monomer was obtained by treatment of myo ‐inositol with 1,1‐dimethoxycyclohexane in the presence of p ‐toluenesulfonic acid as a catalyst. The ketalization resulted in the formation of a 5‐6‐5‐fused ring system, which endowed the diol‐type monomer with high rigidity. The diol readily reacted with diisocyanate to give the corresponding polyurethane, which exhibited excellent heat resistance due to the rigid 5‐6‐5 system in the main chain. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51 , 3956–3963