Thiol-Benzoxazine Chemistry for Macromolecular Modifications

This chapter deals with the synthetic pathways of obtaining materials with thermally curable benzoxazine moieties by using the catalytic opening of the lateral benzoxazine rings by thiols (COLBERT), or in other words the thiol-benzoxazine reaction to further improve special properties, particularly processibility and toughness or for designing new materials. The combination of COLBERT with photolytic thiol-ene, postpolymer modifications of main chain polybenzoxazines, synthesis of linear, block copolymers, and hybrid networks are presented. The advantages of the thiol-benzoxazine approach can be listed as fast and easy reaction conditions at ambient temperature or even below, 100% atom economy, and the availability of wide range of thiol compounds. Apart from these, the conventional benefits of benzoxazine chemistry, like the ease of benzoxazine synthesis and its design flexibility, can be considered additional virtues of thiol-benzoxazine chemistry.