Ring opening polymerization of oxetane by the use of a montmorillonite clay as catalyst

Maghnite-H+ was found to be an effective solid catalyst for the ring opening polymerization of oxetane. Maghnite-H+ is a proton exchanged montmorillonite clay. Effect of weight ratio of initiator/monomer and reaction time on the conversion of monomer and the molecular weight is investigated. Increasing maghnite-H+ proportion produced an increase in oxetane conversion and a decrease in Mn. A cationic mechanism for the reaction was proposed.