Abstract
The copolymerizations of (S)‐1,2‐propanediyl and (2__S__,3__S__)‐2,3‐butanediyl bis(4‐vinyl‐benzoate)s (2a and 2b) (M~1~) with styrene (M~2~) were carried out using 2,2′‐azoisobutyronitrile in toluene at 60 °C. For the cyclocopolymer 3, the extent of cyclization of 3b is higher than that of 3a. The monomer reactivity ratios are r~1~ = 8.34 and r~2~ = 0.27 for 2a and r~1~ = 6.82 and r~2~ = 0.19 for 2b. The specific rotation ([α] in deg · dm^−1^ · g^−1^ · cm^3^ c = 1.0 g · dL^−1^; CHCl~3~) changes from +230 to +176 for 3a and from +319 to +150 for 3b. After removing the chiral templates, the resulting poly[(methyl 4‐vinylbenzoate)‐co‐styrene]s showed a specific rotation ([α] in deg · dm^−1^ · g^−1^ · cm^3^ c = 1.0 g · dL^−1^; CHCl~3~) of −2 for 4a and of −8 for 4b, indicating that the (2__S__,3__S__)‐2,3‐butanediyl template shows a higher ability to cause asymmetric induction by comparison with the (S)‐1,2‐propanediyl one. A split Cotton effect due to the positive chirality was observed in the CD spectrum of 2 and the reversed one for 4. According to the CD exciton chirality method, the clockwise‐twist of two 4‐vinylbenzoate for 2 transmitted its chirality to 4 in which two 4‐vinylbenzoyl groups are twisted counterclockwise, i. e., an (R,R)‐configuration of vicinal (methyl 4‐vinylbenzoate) units in the main chain.