Makromol. Chem., zyxwvut Rapid Commun. zyxwv 3,667- zyxwv 671 (1982) zyxwv 667 Racemic and Optically Active Poly(4-methyl-2-oxo-2-hydro-l,3,2-dioxaphospholane). Synthesis and Oxidation to the Polyacids Tadeusz Biela, Stanislaw Penczek, Stanislaw Slomko wski zyxw Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, 90-362 Lodz, Poland Otto Vogl* Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA (Date of receipt: June 28, 1982) Introduction Several models of biopolymers with a polyphosphate main chain have recently been prepared in this laboratory by ring-opening polymerization 's2). These model compounds were not optically active; optical activity, however, is typical for natural biopolymers. This paper describes the synthesis and polymerization of the optically active 4-methyl-2-0~0-2-hydr0-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane (3*) and the conversion of the resulting poly(3*) (and the corresponding racemic poly(3)) into the polyphosphates. This is the first optically active polyphosphate prepared by ring- opening polymerization. Results and Discussion Monomers and polymers were characterized by 31P ('H) and 'H NMR spectroscopy (spectra recorded with a JEOL FX 60 (60 MHz) and a Perkin Elmer RB 12 (60 MHz) spectrometer). The specific rotations of optically active compounds were measured with a Perkin Elmer 241 MC polarimeter. Positions of chemical shift values of the 31P spectra are given with 85% H,PO, as the external standard. Synthesis of Monomers A general method for the synthesis of cyclic phosphites starting with aliphatic glycols has been described by Lucas3). Racemic 3 had been prepared previously by Zwierzak,) and Nifant'ev et al. 5). Spontaneous formation of poly(3) was observed by these authors, but the polymer was not isolated. We followed the same procedure for preparing the optically active 3*, starting with optically active 1,2-propanediol (l*). 0173-2803/82/10 0667-05/$01 .OO