Cationic polymerization catalyzed by lewis acid catalysts supported on porous polymer substrate

A process for polymerizing cationically polymerizable monomer comprising contacting said monomer with a catalytically effective amount of an immobilized Lewis Acid catalyst in a manner and under conditions sufficient to polymerize said monomer, wherein said immobilized catalyst comprises a porous polymer film substrate having at least one Lewis Acid immobilized on pore surfaces thereof, said polymer film substrate, prior to having said Lewis Acid immobilized thereon, comprising a porous film of functionalized polymer and, optionally, unfunctionalized polymer, said functionalized polymer having within its structure units represented by the formula ##STR11## and said unfunctionalized polymer having within its structure repeating monomer units represented by the formula ##STR12## wherein D represents OH, halide, NH.sub.2, NHR.sup.3, OM', or OM";

• R.sup.1 represents hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.24 alkyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.24 cycloalkyl, C.sub.6 -C.sub.18 aryl or C.sub.7 -C.sub.30 alkylaryl;
• R.sup.2 represents C.sub.3 -C.sub.24 alkyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.24 cycloalkyl, C.sub.6 -C.sub.18 aryl or C.sub.7 -C.sub.30 alkaryl;
• R.sup.3 represents C.sub.1 -C.sub.24 alkyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.24 cycloalkyl, C.sub.6 -C.sub.18 aryl or C.sub.7 -C.sub.30 alkaryl;
• M' represents alkali metal;
• M" represents alkaline-earth metal;
• and
• x and y represent the mole % of each respective subunit, the sum of x+y being 100%.