An alkenyl boronate as a monomer for radical polymerizations: Boron as a guide for chain growth and as a replaceable side chain for post‐polymerization transformation

The ability of isopropenyl boronate pinacol ester to serve as a monomer in radical polymerizations was established and exploited for the synthesis of polymers that are difficult to access using other polymerization techniques. Although the monomer exhibits an α‐methyl‐substituted unconjugated structure, which is usually unfavorable for radical propagation, both free and controlled radical polymerizations smoothly afford the corresponding polymers. A density‐functional‐theory‐based investigation revealed that the boron atom moderately stabilizes the radical species, which leads to the suppression of the degradative chain transfer to the α‐methyl groups, and thus guides the reaction towards the radical polymerization. The boronyl pendants, which are directly attached to the polymer backbone, can be replaced with ‐OH or ‐NH${}_2$ to yield poly(α‐methyl vinyl amine) or poly(α‐methyl vinyl alcohol), which has been inaccessible by conventional synthetic methods. (© 2019 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)