AbstractsChemistry

The Object of the present research was to determine the nature of the complex products obtained when ethy1eneoxide ispolymerized by alkali, and the mechanism of the reaction. The structure of the polymers has been established aslong chain po1yoxyethylendglycols by isolation of the first ten individual polymer members, and direct comparison ofthese with the first ten synthetically prepared po1yoxyethyleneglycols. The identity of the two series was furtherestablished by converting the first and sixth member of each seTies into derivatives which were found to be identical.This confirms the structure assigned by Carothers and by Staudinger to ethyleneoxide polymers. [...]