A NONIONIC HYDROGEL FROM THE TELECHELICS BY UTILIZING LIVING POLYMERIZATION OF 2-OXAZOLINES

N,N'-dimethyl-2,2'-tetramethylene-bis(2-oxazolinium) bis(methyl-p-toluene sulfonate) (II), a cationic polymerization initiator, was synthesized by the reaction of methyl p-toluene sulfonate with 2,2'-tetramethylene-bis-2-oxazoline (I) and a cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline [MeOZO] in the presence of (II) was carried out to produce poly(MeOZO) telechelics with various molecular weights. These telechelics were hydrolyzed with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate to obtain hydroxy terminated telechelics of poly(MeOZO). A series of nonionic polyurethane hydrogels was prepared by the crosslinking reactions of the poly(MeOZO) glycol with pluriisocyanates in the presence of ferric acetylacetonate and DMF as the catalyst and reaction medium, respectively. The hydrogels showed good swelling degrees for water and hydrophilic solvents such as DMF, and bad swelling degree for a hydrophobic solvent such as toluene.