Oxetanes, literature reviews

Previous general reviews of oxetanes and of 2-oxetanones were published in 1964 (64HC(19-2)983, 64HC( 19-2)729), covering the literature to about 1962. Additional surveys of methods of preparation and reactions of these classes of compounds were published in 1963 and 1965 <63HOU(6/2)511, 65HOU(6/3)489>. 

After these pioneering works, several reviews cover the enormous number of papers published in this field [3-7]. The synthesis of oxetanes can have a great importance in the development of compounds with relevant biological properties oxetane ring is present in the skeleton of taxol (1), an important drug used in the treatment of ovarian cancer [8] in merrilactone A (2), a new sesquiterpene dilactone with neurotrophic activity [9] and in several antiviral oxetanes, such as 3, 4, and 5, which have been described in literature (Scheme 3.2) [10-12],... 

The polymerization o oxetanes with cationic catalysts has been studied by many investigators. (1.H2) RoseC. ), in particular, first reported the homopolymerization of the parent compound, tri-methylene oxide (TMO), with a Lewis acid catalyst, boron trifluoride. The use of coordination catalysts to polymerize oxetanes has been reported in the patent literature by Vandenberg.W In this work, Vandenberg polymerized oxetanes with the aluminum trialkyl -water-acetylacetone coordination catalyst (referred to as chelate catalyst) that he discovered for epoxide polymerization . This paper describes the homo- and co-polymerization of TMO with these coordination catalysts. Specific TMO copolymers, particularly with unsaturated epoxides such as allyl glycidyl ether (AGE), are shown to provide the basis for a new family o polyether elastomers. These new elastomers are compared with the related propylene oxide-allyl glycidyl ether (PO-AGE) copolymer elastomers. The historical development and general characteristics of polyether elastomers and, in particular, the propylene oxide elastomers, are reviewed below. 

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