Polymerization by Insertion of Molecular Oxygen into Crystals of 7,7,8,8‐Tetrakis(ethoxycarbonyl)quinodimethane

Abstract

Slipping through the lattice: Molecular oxygen reacts with crystals of quinodimethane 1 to give highly crystalline alternating copolymers by means of a radical mechanism. An X-ray crystallographic study indicates that the unique arrangement of 1 in the crystal is crucial to the copolymerization.