Abstract
2-Ethoxy-6-methoxy-5-cyano-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran (1_a$), 2-n-butoxy-6-methoxy-5-cyano-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyr an (1b), 2-isobutoxy-6-methoxy-5-cyano-3,4-dihydro-2H-py ran ($1_c$), and 2-ethoxy-6-methoxy-3-methyl-5-cyano-3,4-dihydro -2H-pyran ($1_d$) were prepared by (4 + 2) cycloaddition reaction of methyl $\alpha$-cyanoacrylate with the corresponding alkyl vinyl ethers. Compounds $1_{a-d}$ were ring-open polymerized by cationic catalyst to obtain alternating head-to-head (H-H) copolymers. For comparison, head-to-tail (H-T) copolymer $3_a$ was also prepared by free radical copolymerization of the corresponding monomers. The H-H copolymer exhibited minor differences in its $1_H% NMR and IR spectra, but in the $^{13}C$ NMR spectra significant differences were observed between the H-H and H-T copolymers. Glass transition temperature ($T_g$) of H-H copolymer was higher than that of the H-T copolymer, but thermal decomposition temperature of the H-H copolymer was lower than that of the H-T copolymer. Compounds $1_a$, $a_b$, and $1_c$, copolymerized well with styrene by cationic catalyst, but compound 1d failed to copolymerize with styrene. All of the H-H and H-T copolymers were soluble in common solvents and the inherent viscosities were in the range 0.2-0.4 dl/g.