MACROMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, vol.212, no.19, pp.2121-2126, 2011 (Journal Indexed in SCI)
A novel norbornene monomer bearing a thermally curable benzoxazine group is synthesized and polymerized by ROMP using the Grubbs first-generation ruthenium catalyst. The (M) over bar (w) of the side-chain benzoxazine functionalized polyoxanorbornene can be up to 87 000 Da with unimodal molecular-weight distribution and narrow polydispersity between 1.18 and 1.65. Thermally activated ring-opening polymerization of benzoxazine moieties leads to the formation of highly cross-linked structures. The effects of molecular weight on the thermal ROP of polybenzoxazine precursors are examined.