Dendritic polymers from vinyl ether

1-[(2-Vinyloxy)ethoxy]ethyl acetate (1) was prepared by the addition reaction between ethylene glycol divinyl ether and acetic acid. 1 contains both a cationically polymerizable C=C double bond and a dormant initiating moiety for cationic polymerization. It can, therefore, undergo self condensing cationic polymerization in the presence of a Lewis acid activator, such as zinc chloride. Using this procedure, a novel dendritic polymer consisting of vinyl ether was prepared and its hyperbranched molecular structure confirmed by FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectra. Received: 22 May 1997/Revised: 17 July 1997/Accepted: 6 August 1997