Benzyl chloride (1.2,3,4) in the presence of many Lewis acid catalysts will undergo a rapid self-condensation reaction during which HCl is evolved and polybenzyl is produced. Various other catalysts, such as metal powders (5,6), metal oxides (7) and aluminumalkyls (8), are also known to polymerize benzyl chloride to this polymer, but all polymers thus obtained have been found to be highly branched and relatively low molecular weight (7,9,11,12). As a result, the products are generally amorphous resins which soften in the range 60°-80°C.