A novel route to poly(α-hydroxyacrylic acid) derivatives by the hydrolysis of polymers containing 1,3-dioxolan-4-one moiety

The alkali hydrolysis of poly(2,2-dimethyl-5-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-4-one) and poly(2,2-dimethyl-5-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-4-one-co-styrene) was carried out with a sodium hydroxide solution (40%) in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature to obtain poly(α-hydroxyacrylic acid) or poly(α-hydroxyacrylic acid-co-styrene) with number-average molecular weights of 39,000–73,000 in 41–86% yields. The styrene unit in the hydrolyzed copolymer hindered the formation of a lactone ring. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1629–1633, 2001