Polymers of oxetane-spiro-cyclic polyethers

摘要

Novel linear, branched and cyclic polymers of the repeating unit <IMAGE> wherein R is ethylene or propylene bearing from zero to six methyl groups and m and n are lower integers and a process for utilizing said polymers to extract salts from solution are disclosed. For example, a monomer of the formula <IMAGE> is contacted with traces of water in the presence of BF3.etherate to give a homopolymer consisting essentially of repeating units of the formula <IMAGE> which extracts sodium salts from aqueous solution in a thermally reversible manner.