Polymerization of phenyl glycidyl ether induced by tertiary amines in the absence of proton donating compounds

Since the publication of Lidarzhik's paper [1] it has been thought that polymerization of epoxide compounds under the influence of tertiary amines can occur only in the presence of proton donating compounds. The polymerization of epoxide compounds that sometimes occurs with tertiary amines alone, without addition of proton donors, is explained by the effect of atmospheric moisture or the presence in the reaction mixture of hydroxylic impurities (in the hardening of epoxide resins for example). The present paper describes a study of the possibility of polymerization of epoxide compounds by tertiary amines in the absence of proton donating compounds, taking the polymerization of phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE) in the presence of dimethylhexylamine (DMHA) as an example.