Poly(chloroaldehydes). I. Polychloral stabilization

Abstract

Abstract Polychloral diol, unlike polyoxymethylene diol, is not readily capped in the presence of alkali catalysts. Polychloral is capped under acid conditions by acid anhydrides and chlorides and does not appear to undergo degradation during the process. Evidence for end‐capping is provided by infrared analysis in the case of the low DP polychloral, metachloral. End‐capped polychlorals possess good stability towards hot dimethylformamide and good stability at elevated temperatures (255°C.). From the melting points of copolymers, polychloral itself is estimated to have a melting point of about 460°C. The high melting point is consistent with the rigidity of the polymer chain. A means of estimating the DP of the polymer is proposed, based on a form of endgroup analysis. By this technique, metachloral is estimated to have a DP of about 50.