Abstract By copolymerization of bis (p-vinylbenzyl) disulfide (1) with crosslinking monomers and subsequent reduction of the disulfide bond with diborane, polymers with two closely positioned mercapto groups were prepared. Under comparable conditions polymers with randomly distributed mercapto groups were obtained from (p-vinylbenzyl) thioacetate (2). The degree of cooperativity of the mercapto groups in polymers of (1) as well as the ...