Oxidative polymerization of p-alkylphenols catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase

Enzymatic oxidative polymerization of p-alkylphenols using horseradish peroxidase as catalyst has been carried out in two polymerization solvent systems: a mixture of phosphate buffer (pH 7) and 1,4-dioxane, and a reverse micellar solution, yielding powdery polymeric materials. The polymer yield was much dependent upon the type of alkyl group in the monomer as well as the solvent type. In case of the polymerization of umbranched alkylphenols in the aqueous 1,4-dioxane, the polymer yield increased with increasing chain length of the alkyl group from 1 to 5, and the yield of the polymer from hexyl or heptylphenol was almost the same as that of the pentyl derivative. The relationship between the type of substituent and the polymer yield in the reverse micellar system was different from that in the aqueous 1,4-dioxane; the highest yield was achieved from ethylphenol. The resulting polymers had molecular weight of several thousands. The polymer was estimated to be composed from a mixture of phenylene and oxyphenylene units from IR analyses. TG measurement exhibited that the polymer had relatively high thermal stability. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 1453–1459, 1997     

Synthesis of polycarbonates by a silicon-assisted alkoxy/carbonylimidazolide coupling reaction

The investigation of a silicon-mediated coupling reaction between hydroxyl and carbonylimidazolide functional groups in the preparation of carbonate linkages is described. Application of this reaction to the formation of aliphatic polycarbonates was accomplished by the polymerization of an AB monomer unit, which was composed of 1,4-cyclohexanediol, where one of the hydroxyl groups was protected as a dimethylphenylsilyl ether and the other carried the carbonylimidazolide functionality. Reaction of this monomer with cesium fluoride removed the silicon protecting group and the resulting alkoxy anion promoted polymerization. Poly(1,4-cyclohexanecarbonate)s with typical molecular weights of M_w = 20,000 and M_n = 7300 a.m.u. (from GPC based upon polystyrene standards) were prepared in ca. 65% yield. The polymer showed a glass transition temperature at 138°C by DSC. TGA gave 85% mass loss between 275 and 350°C. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 1133–1137, 1997.     

Synthesis and solution properties of poly(vinyl ether)s with long alkyl chain,biphenyl, and cholesteryl pendants

The judicious choice of reaction conditions permitted living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers with bulky and strongly interacting pendant groups, such as crystalline long alkyl chains and liquid crystalline mesogenic structures, using appropriate combinations of Lewis acids with added bases. Thus, well‐defined random and block copolymers with various pendants were also synthesized. Highly sensitive UCST‐type phase separation in various organic solvents was achieved employing crystallization of octadecyl pendants of homopolymers and random copolymers. This phase separation behavior is unusual for a polymer‐organic solvent system. Furthermore, thermally induced reversible physical gelation was conducted using this thermosensitive behavior. These specific pendants were very effective not only in organic media but also in water, in obtaining hydrogels with relatively low polymer concentrations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4392–4406, 2008     

“Radical‐controlled” oxidative polymerization of phenol: Comparison with that of 4‐phenoxyphenol

“Radical‐controlled” oxidative polymerization of phenol (p‐1) by (1,4,7‐triisopropyl‐1,4,7‐triazacyclononane)copper(II) catalyst was performed and compared with that of 4‐phenoxyphenol (p‐2) in detail. Although the coupling selectivity for p‐1 seemed to be controlled by the catalyst, the C? C coupling, which was excluded completely for p‐2, occurred to some extent. The initial reaction rate of p‐1 was much smaller than that of p‐2, leading to the difference of polymerization behavior between p‐1 and p‐2. The rate‐determining step would be the coupling of controlled radicals species from the ESR measurement of the reaction mixture. The polymer resulting from p‐1 consisted mainly of phenylene oxide units, but had no crystallinity in contrast to the crystalline polymer from p‐2. However, the present polymer showed the highest thermal stability in the polymers obtained by oxidative polymerization of p‐1. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1955–1962, 2005     

Nanoscopic confinement effects on ethylene polymerization by intercalated silicate with metallocene catalyst

In this article we report a study of in situ polymerization of ethylene by intercalated montmorillonite (MMT) with metallocene, allowing an investigation of the nanoscopic confinement effect of olefin polymerization and of the structure of polymer prepared in situ. Ethylene polymerization by intercalated MMT with metallocene and the varied aggregation morphology of the resulting polymer during polymerization were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The polymerization kinetics and the resulting polymer before and after destruction of the silicate registry were different. The laminated structure of silicate lowered the all‐reaction rate, including the propagation, chain transfer, and termination reactions, producing polymer of a high molecular weight. Moreover, the melting point of the polymer gradually increased during the in situ polymerization, indicating that nanoscopic confinement between solid surfaces affects the crystallization behavior of polyethylene via in situ polymerization. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 38–43, 2004     

Preparation of functional polymers by living anionic polymerization: Polymerization of allyl methacrylate

The anionic polymerization of allyl methacrylate was carried out in tetrahydrofuran, both in the presence and in the absence of LiCl, with a variety of initiators, at various temperatures. It was found that (1,1-diphenylhexyl)lithium and the living oligomers of methyl methacrylate and tert-butyl methacrylate are suitable initiators for the anionic polymerization of this monomer. The temperature should be below −30°C, even in the presence of LiCl, for the living polymerization to occur. When the polymerization proceeded at −60°C, in the presence of LiCl, with (1,1-diphenylhexyl)-lithium as initiator, the number-average molecular weight of the polymer was directly proportional to the monomer conversion and monodisperse poly(allyl methacrylate)s with high molecular weights were obtained. ¹H-NMR and FT-IR indicated that the α CC double bond of the monomer was selectively polymerized and that the allyl group remained unreacted. The prepared poly(allyl methacrylate) is a functional polymer since it contains a reactive CC double bond on each repeating unit. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 2901–2906, 1997     

A calorimetric comparative study of hydrogenated and deuterated diacetylene 2,4 hexadiynylene bis(p-toluenesulfonate): Phase diagrams and polymerization

Microcalorimetry was used to study the thermal polymerization and the structural instabilities in hydrogenated (pTS-H) and deuterated (pTS-D) diacetylene 2,4-hexadiynylene bis(p-toluenesulfonate). In the induction period, the polymerization reaction proceeds about seven times faster in pTS-D than in pTS-H. Whereas the phase transitions of pure pTS-H and pTS-D monomer crystals and of pure pTS-H and pTS-D polymer crystals are very similar, the situation is completely different for mixed monomer-polymer crystals of pTS-H and pTS-D. The results are interpreted by studying comparative influence of the chain lengths for pTS-H and pTS-D oligomers. A comparison is made between these results and previous experimental results obtained from dielectric measurements, UV-spectroscopy, X-ray, and elastic neutron scattering. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35: 789–798, 1997     

Ring opening polymerization of propylene oxide by chitosan-supported rare earth catalytic system and its kinetics

Ring opening polymerization of propylene oxide in the presence of a new type of catalytic system composed of chitosan-supported rare earth complex, triisobutyl aluminium, and acetylacetone and its kinetics have been studied for the first time. It has been found that the characteristics of this catalytic system are of high catalytic activity, of higher stereoselectivity, and of a high molecular weight polymer of 2 × 10⁶. Kinetic studies show that the polymerization rate is first order with respect to monomer concentration and catalyst concentration, respectively. The apparent activation energy of the polymerization reaction is 37.1 kJ/mol. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 2177–2182, 1997     

Poly(silylenemethylene)‐based polymer blends. III. Synthesis and properties of polymer blends containing siloxane‐crosslinked poly(silylenemethylene)s

Soft–hard binary polymer blends consisting of amorphous poly(silylene methylene)s (PSMs) and crystalline poly(diphenylsilylenemethylene) were prepared by both melt processing at 360 °C and in situ polymerization at 300 °C. Linear and siloxane‐crosslinked PSMs were used as amorphous components for the purpose of determining how the crosslinks affected the interactions between the component polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis indirectly suggested that discernable differences between the blends containing linear and crosslinked PSMs were attributable to the degree of interactions between the amorphous and crystalline components. The morphological differences between these blends were studied with transmission electron microscopy. The dispersion phase was smaller in the blends containing crosslinked PSM than that in the blends containing linear PSM. This directly indicated that a larger interaction between the amorphous and crystalline phases was obtained by the introduction of crosslinks because of the smaller viscosity difference between the phases and a larger degree of polymer chain entanglement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 257–263, 2003     

Main kinetic features of ethylene polymerization reactions with heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalysts in the light of a multicenter reaction mechanism

A previously developed kinetic scheme for ethylene polymerization reactions with heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalysts (see Y. V. Kissin, R. I. Mink, & T. E. Nowlin, J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 1999, 37, 4255 and Y. V. Kissin, R. I. Mink, T. E. Nowlin, & A. J. Brandolini, J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 1999, 37, 4273, 4281) states that the catalysts have several types of active centers that have different activities and different stabilities, produce different types of polymer materials, and respond differently to reaction conditions. Each type of center produces a single polymer component (Flory component), a material with a uniform structure (copolymer composition, isotacticity, etc.) and a narrow molecular weight distribution (weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight = 2.0). This article examines several previously known features of ethylene polymerization and copolymerization reactions on the basis of this mechanism. The discussed subjects include temperature and cocatalyst effects on the polymerization kinetics and molecular weight distribution of polymers and reaction parameter effects (temperature, ethylene and hydrogen partial pressures, and α-olefin and cocatalyst concentrations) on the molecular weights of Flory components. The results show that the formulation of the multicenter kinetic scheme and the development of kinetic tools necessary for the application of this scheme significantly expand our understanding of the working of heterogeneous polymerization catalysts and provide additional means for their control. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1681–1695, 2001     

Vinylic polymerization of norbornene by neutral nickel(II)‐based catalysts

Neutral Ni(II) salicylaldiminato complexes activated with modified methylaluminoxane as catalysts were used for the vinylic polymerization of norbornene. Catalyst activities of up to 7.08 × 10⁴ kg_pol/(mol_Ni · h) and viscosity‐average molecular weights of polymer up to 1.5 × 10⁶ g/mol were observed at optimum conditions. Polynorbornenes are amorphous, soluble in organic solvents, highly stable, and show glass‐transition temperatures around 390 °C. Catalyst activity, polymer yield, and polymer molecular weight can be controlled over a wide range by the variation of the reaction parameters such as the Al/Ni ratio, monomer/catalyst ratio, monomer concentration, polymerization reaction temperature, and time. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2680–2685, 2002     

Molecular weight distribution in nonlinear emulsion polymerization

A modelistic study of the molecular weight distribution (MWD) formed in emulsion polymerization that involves chain transfer to polymer is conducted, by focusing our attention to the effect of very small reaction volume on the formed MWD. In emulsion polymerization, a polymer radical that causes polymer transfer reaction must choose the partner only within the same particle, which makes the expected size of the polymer molecule to be chosen smaller compared with the corresponding polymerization system that involves an infinitely large number of polymeric species. The usual assumption for homogeneous polymerization that the rate of chain transfer to a particular polymer molecule is proportional to its chain length cannot be used, except when branching frequency is low and particle size is large enough. This fact invalidates the direct use of models developed for homogeneous nonlinear polymerizations to emulsion polymerizations. Model equations that could be used to assess the significance of the limited space effects on the MWD under a given polymerization condition are also proposed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35 : 1515–1532, 1997     

The improvement of electro‐optical properties of polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals using copolymer macroinitiator with different glass transition temperature

In this article, copolymer macroinitiators prepared with styrene and iso‐octyl acrylate by reversible additional‐fragmental chain transfer polymerization were used to prepare polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) with methyl acrylate. The electro‐optical properties of the PDLCs were investigated. The results showed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the macroinitiator has a great influence on the memory effect of the resulting PDLCs. Low driving voltage and low memory effect PDLCs could easily be obtained with copolymer macroinitiators. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Propagation velocity of the reaction front in addition polymerization systems

Traveling polymerization fronts in unstirred solutions of methylmethacrylate, methacrylic acid, or acrylamide with some free radicals initiators (through thermal decomposition) have been observed experimentally. A local heating of the initial reactant mixture, under suitable conditions, leads to a reaction front that propagates along the space coordinate with a constant velocity. In this article, a physical interpretation of this phenomenon is provided through a mathematical model that accounts for the depolimerization reaction and is based on the constant pattern approach. Moreover, an approximate explicit analytic expression for the velocity of propagation of the polymerization front is proposed. The theoretical values are compared with those measured experimentally as a function of the initiator concentration for different addition polymerization systems. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35:1047–1059, 1997     

Control of molecular weight of the polymers produced during the crystalline-state photopolymerization of diethyl cis,cis-muconate as studied by gel permeation chromatography and scanning electron micrography

The molecular weight and its distribution of the resulting polymers were investigated during the crystalline-state photopolymerization of diethyl cis,cis-muconate (EMU). EMU crystals were prepared by several methods, recrystallization, milling, freeze drying, and precipitation, to obtain the crystals with various sizes of 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻² m. After crystalline-state photopolymerization via a crystal-to-crystal process, polymer crystals were isolated and characterized by optical microphotography and scanning electron micrography. Molecular weight and its distribution were determined by gel permeation chromatography with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol and by intrinsic viscosity in trifluoroacetic acid. It was revealed that the size of the EMU crystals depended on the method used for the crystal preparation, and that the molecular weight of the polymer decreased as the crystal size became small. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 3147–3155, 1998     

Viscosity effects in cobaloxime‐mediated catalytic chain‐transfer polymerization of methacrylates

The effect of bulk viscosity on the cobaloxime‐mediated catalytic chain‐transfer polymerization of methacrylates at 60 °C was investigated by both the addition of high molecular weight poly(methyl methacrylate) to methyl methacrylate polymerization and the dilution of benzyl methacrylate polymerization by toluene. The results indicate that the bulk viscosity is not directly linked to the chain‐transfer activity. The previously measured relationship between chain‐transfer‐rate coefficient and monomer viscosity therefore probably reflects changes at the molecular level. However, the results in this article do not necessarily disprove a diffusion‐controlled reaction rate because cobaloxime diffusion is expected to scale with the monomer friction coefficient rather than bulk viscosity. Considering the published data, to date we are not able to distinguish between a diffusion‐controlled reaction rate or a mechanism directly affected by the methacrylate substituent. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 782–792, 2002; DOI 10.1002/pola.10152     

Melt‐processable poly(oxyphenylalkanoate): Synthesis,properties, and in vitro degradation of poly(4‐oxyphenylacetate)

The homopolyester of 4‐hydroxyphenylacetic acid (HPAA) was synthesized by one‐pot, slurry‐melt, and acidolysis melt polymerization techniques and was characterized by its inherent viscosity and IR and NMR spectra. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing light microscopy (PLM), and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) studies of the homopolymer were carried out for its thermal and phase behavior. The results indicated that the yield and molecular weight of the polymer depended on the method of preparation; moreover, the acidolysis melt polymerization of the pure acetoxy derivative of HPAA was the best method for the preparation of high molecular weight poly(4‐oxyphenylacetate) (polyHPAA) without side reactions. DSC and PLM studies also showed that the thermal and optical properties depended largely on the polymerization conditions and inherent viscosity values. PolyHPAA did not show a clear texture typical of liquid‐crystalline polymers, whereas after cooling from the melt, structures similar to spherulitic crystals were observed. WAXD patterns showed a crystalline nature. The in vitro degradability of the polymer was also studied via the water absorption in buffer solutions of pH 7 and 10 at 30 and 60 °C; this was followed by Fourier transform infrared, inherent viscosity, DSC, thermogravimetric analysis, WAXD, and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Unlike Vectra®, which showed no degradation, polyHPAA showed an increase in hydrolytic degradation from 5.0 and 6.0% at 30 °C to 12.5 and 15.0% at 60 °C after 350 h in buffer solutions of pH 7 and 10, respectively. The results indicated a possible biomedical prosthetic application of poly(oxyphenylalkanoate)s such as polyHPAA with better crystallinity coupled with degradability as a substitute for poly(hydroxyalkanoates). © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2430–2443, 2001     

Electron diffraction and computer modeling of poly(naphthalic anhydride) crystal structure

Single crystals of poly(naphthalic anhydride) (PNA) have been grown using our confined thin film melt polymerization technique. Lamellae, 70–100 Å thick, are found for the crystals polymerized at 180°C with thinner lamellae for a 200°C polymerization temperature. In addition, irregular lath-shaped crystals are found for both polymerization temperatures, apparently formed by a solid-state polymerization process within the original needle-like monomer crystals. The crystal structure of PNA has been studied by electron diffraction (ED) and computer modeling based on seven different zonal ED patterns. It is found that, in most cases, two or three different zonal patterns are superimposed with a common plane, suggesting variable chain tilting even in individual lamellae. Shearing of the material shortly after the initiation of polymerization, permitted obtaining an additional [010] zone ED pattern. A monoclinic unit cell with one chain, two repeat units is proposed based on measurements of 21 independent reflections; the space group is Pc11; a = 6.26 Å, b = 4.33 Å, c = 18.60 Å, and α = 122.5°. The computer-simulated (Cerius²) molecular conformation and chain packing are described with the corresponding simulated electron diffraction patterns being in good agreement with the observed ones. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35 : 1575–1588, 1997     

Anomalous solubility of polyacrylamide prepared by dispersion (precipitation) polymerization in aqueous tert‐butyl alcohol

Polyacrylamide prepared by dispersion (precipitation) polymerization in an aqueous t‐butyl alcohol (TBA) medium is only partially soluble when the TBA concentrations in the polymerization media are in the range 82 vol % < TBA < 95 vol %. Independent experiments with a soluble (linear) sample of polyacrylamide show that the polymer swells sufficiently in the aforementioned media to lower the glass‐transition temperature of the polymer below the polymerization temperature (50 °C). The anomalous solubility has been attributed to the crosslinking of polymer chains that occurs during the solid‐phase polymerization of acrylamide in the swollen polymer particles. It is postulated that some of the radical centers shift from the chain end to the chain backbone during solid‐phase polymerization by chain transfer to neighboring polymer molecules, and when pairs of such radicals come into close vicinity, crosslinking occurs. However, dispersion (precipitation) polymerization in other media such as aqueous methanol and aqueous acetone yields polymers that are soluble. This result has been attributed to the fact that the polymer radical undergoes a chain‐transfer reaction with these solvents at a much faster rate than with TBA, which overcomes the effect of the polymer‐transfer reaction. Even the addition of as little as 5% methanol to a TBA–water mixture (TBA:water = 85:10) gives rise to a soluble polymer. The chain‐transfer constants for acetone, methanol, and TBA have been determined to be 9.0 × 10^?6, 6.9 × 10^?6, and 1.48 × 10^?6, respectively, at 50 °C. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3434–3442, 2001