Thermal stability of a star‐shaped poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene)

AbstractA star‐shaped poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) (PCHD) with a fullerene‐C60 (C60) core (C60‐PCHD) was prepared to examine the thermal stability of the covalent bond between the C60 and PCHD arm in the C60‐PCHD. The covalent bond between the C60 and PCHD arm formed by a 1,2‐cyclohexadiene (CHD) unit on the C60 was stronger than that formed by a 1,4‐CHD unit. The double bond in the CHD unit adjoining the C60 core was a key structure for the stability of that covalent bond. The hydrogenated C60‐PCHD, which did not contain a double bond, possessed significantly higher thermal stability compared to C60‐PCHD. The mechanism of elimination of PCHD arm molecules from the C60 core was thought to proceed via a 1,5‐sigmatropic H‐shift. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2132–2142, 2009