Characterization of polyethylene with partially random chlorine substitution

A series of chlorine‐containing polymers were prepared by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) followed by hydrogenation. This synthesis route was chosen specifically so that chain microstructures would be obtained that resembled copolymers of ethylene and vinyl chloride. The chlorine content was varied by the copolymerization of 5‐chlorocyclooctene and cyclooctene. Differential scanning calorimetry, light microscopy, tapping‐mode atomic force microscopy, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and density were employed to characterize the polymers. The copolymers had certain restrictions on the length of the methylene sequence between substituted carbons, however, ROMP copolymerization introduced enough variation in the methylene sequence length that model copolymers with the equivalent of 14 mol % vinyl chloride or less closely resembled random copolymers of ethylene and vinyl chloride. These materials organized as spherulites and exhibited the orthorhombic crystal form. Constraints on the placement of chlorine atoms strongly affected the crystallization of polymers with more than the equivalent of 14 mol % vinyl chloride. More regular chlorine substitution along the polyethylene chain translated into better ordered crystal structures with sharp melting peaks. The granular morphology of these materials at ambient temperature was interpreted as fringed micellar crystals. The WAXD patterns provided definitive evidence that chains in the fringed micelle took the hexagonal crystal form. The lower density hexagonal form facilitated the crystallization of short ethylene sequences and accommodated chlorine atoms more easily than the orthorhombic form. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2062–2070, 2003     

Vinylic and ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of norbornene with bis(β‐ketoamine) cobalt complexes

Cobalt complexes 1 – 4 bearing N,O‐chelate ligands based on condensation products of 1‐phenyl‐3‐methyl‐4‐benzoyl‐5‐pyrazolone with aniline, o‐methylaniline, α‐naphthylamine, and p‐nitroaniline, respectively, were synthesized, and the structures of 1 and 4 were characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses. The bis(β‐ketoamine) cobalt complexes could act as moderately active catalyst precursors for norbornene polymerization with the activation of methylaluminoxane. This catalytic reaction proceeded mainly through a vinyl‐type polymerization mechanism. ¹H NMR and IR showed that in all cases, a small amount of double bonds raised from ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was present in the polymerization products. The variation of the polymerization conditions affected the ROMP unit ratio in the polynorbornenes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5535–5544, 2005     

Living radical polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated with iodoform and catalyzed by nascent Cu0/tris(2‐aminoethyl)amine or polyethyleneimine in water at 25 °C proceeds by a new competing pathways mechanism

The first example of living radical polymerization of vinyl chloride carried out in water at 25 °C is reported. This polymerization was initiated by iodoform and catalyzed by nascent Cu⁰ produced by the disproportionation of Cu^I in the presence of strongly Cu^II binding ligands such as tris(2‐aminoethyl)amine or polyethyleneimine. The resulting poly(vinyl chloride) was free of structural defects, had controlled molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution, contained two ～CHClI active chain ends, and had a higher syndiotacticity (62%) than the one obtained by conventional free‐radical polymerization at the same temperature (56%). This novel polymerization proceeds, most probably, by a combination of competitive pathways that involves activation by single electron transfer mediated by nascent Cu⁰ and degenerative chain transfer. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3283–3299, 2003     

Constitutional isomerism in polyamides derived from isophthaloyl chloride and 1,3‐diamine‐4‐chlorobenzene

Polyamides from isophthaloyl chloride and 1,3‐diamino‐4‐chlorobenzene with diverse constitutional order were obtained in a one‐stage synthesis varying the polymerization temperature and the monomer mixing modes. The constitutional order was calculated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopies. A model to determine the constitutional isomerism in these polycondensates was applied with the relevant kinetic reaction parameters obtained from the model reactions. The Monte Carlo technique was used to model the constitution along the polycondensation reaction as a function of the average polymerization degree. Constitution was determined by kinetic factors and not by thermodynamic ones. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1202–1215, 2003     

Synthesis of ethylene/vinyl ester copolymers with pendent linear branches via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of fatty acid‐derived cyclooctenes

Fatty acid‐derived cyclooctenes, including n‐hexanoic acid ( M1 ), n‐octanoic acid ( M2 ), lauric acid ( M3 ), and palmitic acid ( M4 ), were prepared as monomers and polymerized by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) using Grubbs second‐generation catalyst ( G2 ). In all the cases, the regio‐irregular unsaturated polymers with pendent linear branches were obtained, which could be saturated by chemical hydrogenation with TSH/TPA in high conversion, yielding ethylene/vinyl ester copolymers with pendent linear branches on precisely every eighth backbone carbon. Both unsaturated and saturated polymers were amorphous, and their structures were characterized by FTIR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra, and elemental analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo‐gravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to study their thermal properties. The chain length of branches greatly affected the thermal properties of polymers. After hydrogenation, the thermal degradation stability of polymers was relatively improved. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2211–2220     

Cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether initiated with transition‐metal ate complexes

The cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether was examined with transition‐metal ate complexes with trityl cation as initiators. The initiators were generated by the reaction of triphenylmethyl chloride [trityl chloride (TrCl)] with ate complexes of Nb, Mo, and W with lithium cation, which were obtained in situ by the reaction of the transition‐metal halides with anionic reagents (organolithium or lithium amide). When the polymerization was initiated with a mixture of TrCl and Li⁺[NbH₅(NnBuPh)]^?, the resulting poly(isobutyl vinyl ether)s had narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight = 1.13–1.20). Although the polymerization was supposed to be initiated by the electrophilic attack of the trityl cation, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analysis of the resulting poly(isobutyl vinyl ether)s revealed the presence of H at the α‐chain end. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2636–2641, 2006     

Synthesis of poly(vinyl acetate)‐b‐polystyrene and poly(vinyl alcohol)‐b‐polystyrene copolymers by cobalt‐mediated radical polymerization

Well‐defined poly(vinyl acetate) macroinitiators, with the chains thus end‐capped by a cobalt complex, were synthesized by cobalt‐mediated radical polymerization and used to initiate styrene polymerization at 30 °C. Although the polymerization of the second block was not controlled, poly(vinyl acetate)‐b‐polystyrene copolymers were successfully prepared and converted into amphiphilic poly(vinyl alcohol)‐b‐polystyrene copolymers by the methanolysis of the ester functions of the poly(vinyl acetate) block. These poly(vinyl alcohol)‐b‐polystyrene copolymers self‐associated in water with the formation of nanocups, at least when the poly(vinyl alcohol) content was low enough. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 81–89, 2007     

Synthesis and characterization of functional polyethylene with regularly distributed thioester pendants via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization

Four kinds of functional polyethylene carrying thioester pendants were synthesized via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of alkyl cyclopent‐3‐enecarbothioate catalyzed by a ruthenium‐based commercial catalyst and subsequent hydrogenation of the ROMP products (alkyl = ethyl, n‐butyl, n‐octyl, or n‐dodecyl). In these polymers the pendant alkyl thioester groups are precisely distributed along the backbone on every five methylene carbons. Chain structure, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the polymers were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and GPC. The ROMP reactions all reached high monomer conversions, and hydrogenation of the ROMP products were exhaustive. Thermal transitions and side chain crystallization behaviors of the polymer were investigated and characterized by DSC and TGA. Glass transition temperature and melting temperature of these polymers were higher than the counterparts containing ester pendants. TGA analysis indicated that all the thioester‐containing polymers exhibited moderate thermal stability, and the sulfur‐containing polymers show slightly lower thermal stability than their counterparts without sulfur. The new family of functionalized polyethylenes could be used as models of ethylene‐thioacrylate copolymers, and find applications as novel functional materials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 4027–4036     

Novel active ester‐bridged copolynorbornene materials containing terminal functional hydroxyl,amino, methacryloyl,or ammonium groups via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization

Several random and block copolynorbornenes with side chains containing terminal hydroxyl, amino, methacryloyl or ammonium groups were derived from the functional alkyl ester‐containing norbornenes by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The main chain of ROMP‐type polynorbornene had a more important role for glass‐transition temperature in comparison with vinyl addition polymerization. There is little effect on glass‐transition temperature (about ?39 °C) of polynorbornenes with different length of alkyl side chain. The organosoluble copolynorbornenes with active crosslinkable methylacryloyl side chains derived from functional hydroxyl group were prepared to improve the thermal stability of poly(methyl methacrylate) [decomposition temperature (T_d)^10% = 325 °C in nitrogen] by forming networked AB crosslinked polymer (T = 367 °C in nitrogen). The sizes of nanometer‐scale polymeric micelles of block copolymers having hydrophobic alkyl ester and hydrophilic ammonium groups were measured in the range of 11–25 nm by scanning electron microscopy. These polymeric materials with various functional groups or amphiphilic architectures are accessible by ROMP, whose topology makes them particularly attractive for application potential such as biomedical and photoelectric materials. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4233–4247, 2005     

Block copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(vinyl alcohol) synthesized by the RAFT methodology

A methodology for the synthesis of well‐defined poly(ethylene oxide)‐block‐poly(vinyl alcohol) (PEO‐b‐PVA) and PVA‐b‐PEO‐b‐PVA polymers was reported. Novel xanthate end‐functionalized PEOs were synthesized by a series of end‐group transformations. They were then used to mediate the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of vinyl acetate to obtain well‐defined poly(ethylene oxide)‐b‐poly(vinyl acetate) (PEO‐b‐PVAc) and PVAc‐b‐PEO‐b‐PVAc. When these block copolymers were directly hydrolyzed in methanol solution of sodium hydroxide, polymers with brown color were obtained, which was due to the formation of conjugated unsaturated aldehyde structures. To circumvent these side reactions, the xanthate groups were removed by adding a primary amine before hydrolysis and the products thus obtained were white powders. The polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and FT‐IR. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1901–1910, 2009     

Synthesis of thioether‐functional poly(olefin)s via ruthenium‐alkylidene initiated ring‐opening metathesis polymerization

Ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of thioether‐derived oxanorbornene imide ( M1 ) and its copolymerization with various cycloolefin comonomers such as cyclopentene ( M2 ), cyclopent‐3‐en‐1‐ol ( M3 ), cycloheptene ( M4 ), and cyclooctene ( M5 ) using Hoveyda–Grubbs second generation catalyst has been investigated. Polymerizations were performed at two different temperatures (0 and 25 °C) and the obtained functional poly(olefin)s were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ¹H and ¹³C (NMR), and infrared spectroscopy as well as size exclusion chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis analyses. Additionally, the dependence of the polymer composition on the reaction temperature and monomer feed was studied with time‐dependent ¹H NMR experiments. Copolymerization of M1 with a five‐membered cycloolefin monomer M2 showed relatively low ROMP reactivity irrespective of the reaction conditions in comparison to M3 , M4 , and M5 monomers. In general, the degree of monomer incorporation into poly(olefin)s were determined in the order of M5 > M3 > M4 > M2 , and that sheds light on the effect of cycloolefin ring strain energies in the ruthenium‐alkylidene initiated ROMP. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1741–1747     

Synthesis and monomer reactivity ratios of methyl methacrylate and 2‐vinyl‐4,4′‐dimethylazlactone copolymers

We report the monomer reactivity ratios for copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a reactive monomer, 2‐vinyl‐4,4′‐dimethylazlactone (VDMA), using the Fineman–Ross, inverted Fineman–Ross, Kelen–Tudos, extended Kelen–Tudos, and Tidwell–Mortimer methods at low and high polymer conversions. Copolymers were obtained by radical polymerization initiated by 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile in methyl ethyl ketone solutions and were analyzed by NMR, gas chromatography (GC), and gel permeation chromatography. ¹H NMR analysis was used to determine the molar fractions of MMA and VDMA in the copolymers at both low and high conversions. GC analysis determined the molar fractions of the monomers at conversions of less than 27% and greater than 65% for the low‐ and high‐conversion copolymers, respectively. The reactivity ratios indicated a tendency toward random copolymerization, with a higher rate of consumption of VDMA at high conversions. For both low‐ and high‐conversion copolymers, the molecular weights increased with increasing molar fractions of VDMA, and this was consistent with the faster consumption of VDMA (compared with that of MMA). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3027–3037, 2003     

Synthesis of poly(tert‐butyl acrylate‐block‐vinyl acetate) copolymers by combining ATRP and RAFT polymerizations

The synthesis of poly(tert‐butyl acrylate‐block‐vinyl acetate) copolymers using a combination of two living radical polymerization techniques, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, is reported. The use of two methods is due to the disparity in reactivity of the two monomers, viz. vinyl acetate is difficult to polymerize via ATRP, and a suitable RAFT agent that can control the polymerization of vinyl acetate is typically unable to control the polymerization of tert‐butyl acrylate. Thus, ATRP was performed to make poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) containing a bromine end group. This end group was subsequently substituted with a xanthate moiety. Various spectroscopic methods were used to confirm the substitution. The poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) macro‐RAFT agent was then used to produce (tert‐butyl acrylate‐block‐vinyl acetate). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7200–7206, 2008     

One‐ and two‐dimensional NMR characterization of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone/methyl acrylate copolymers

N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone/methyl acrylate (V/M) copolymers were prepared by free‐radical bulk polymerization using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator. The copolymer composition of these copolymers was calculated from ¹H NMR spectra. The radical reactivity ratios for N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (V) and methyl acrylate (M) were r_V = 0.09, r_M = 0.44. These reactivity ratios for the copolymerization of V and M were determined using the Kelen–Tudos and nonlinear least‐squares error‐in‐variable methods. The ¹³C{¹H} and ¹H NMR spectra of these copolymers overlapped and were complex. The complete spectral assignment of the ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectra were done with distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer and two dimensional ¹³C‐¹H heteronuclear single quantum correlation spectroscopic experiments. The two‐dimensional ¹H‐¹H homonuclear total correlation spectroscopic NMR spectrum showed the various bond interactions, thus inferring the possible structure of the copolymers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2225–2236, 2002     

One‐ and two‐dimensional NMR characterization of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone/methyl acrylate copolymers

N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone/methyl acrylate (V/M) copolymers were prepared by free‐radical bulk polymerization using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator. The copolymer composition of these copolymers was calculated from ¹H NMR spectra. The radical reactivity ratios for N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (V) and methyl acrylate (M) were r_V = 0.09, r_M = 0.44. These reactivity ratios for the copolymerization of V and M were determined using the Kelen–Tudos and nonlinear least‐squares error‐in‐variable methods. The ¹³C{¹H} and ¹H NMR spectra of these copolymers overlapped and were complex. The complete spectral assignment of the ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectra were done with distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer and two dimensional ¹³C‐¹H heteronuclear single quantum correlation spectroscopic experiments. The two‐dimensional ¹H‐¹H homonuclear total correlation spectroscopic NMR spectrum showed the various bond interactions, thus inferring the possible structure of the copolymers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2225–2236, 2002     

Incorporation of poly(2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐N‐propanesulfonic acid) segments into block and brush copolymers by ATRP

2‐Acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐N‐propanesulfonic acid (AMPSA) was successfully polymerized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using a copper chloride/2,2′‐bipyridine (bpy) catalyst complex after in situ neutralization of the acidic proton in AMPSA with tri(n‐butyl)amine (TBA). A 5 mol % excess of TBA was required to completely neutralize the acid and prevent protonation of the bpy ligand, as well as to avoid side reactions caused by large excess of TBA. The use of activators generated by electron transfer (AGET) ATRP with ascorbic acid as reducing agent resulted in both increased conversion of the AMPSA monomer during polymerization (up to 50% with a 0.8 [ascorbic acid]/[Cu(II)] ratio) and much shorter polymerization times (<30 min). Block copolymers and molecular brushes containing AMPSA side chains were prepared using this method, and the solution and surface behavior of these materials were investigated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5386–5396, 2009     

Influence of residual impurities on ring‐opening metathesis polymerization after copper(I)‐catalyzed alkyne‐azide cycloaddition click reaction

Bottlebrush polymers (BBPs) are three‐dimensional polymers with great academic and industrial potential owing to their highly tunable and intricate architecture. The most popular method to synthesize BBPs is ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) with Grubbs' catalyst, allowing living grafting‐through polymerization of macromonomers of up to ultrahigh molecular weights with narrow molecular weight distribution. In this case, it has been well recognized that the purity of macromonomers (MMs) is critical for a successful ROMP reaction. For MMs synthesized from reversible‐deactivation radical polymerization, Grubbs and Xia demonstrated that the better control of ROMP reaction can be achieved when they are prepared via “growth‐then‐coupling” method that is coupling a norbornenyl group to end‐functionalized prepolymers. However, these MMs can also contain various residual impurities from previous synthetic steps, which can potentially poison the catalyst and hamper the ROMP reaction. Herein, we intentionally doped possible impurities into purified MMs to identify the most poisoning species. As a result, it was found that alkyne‐functionalized norbornene most significantly retarded the ROMP reaction due to a formation of Ru‐vinyl‐carbene intermediates having low catalytic reactivity, whereas the other reagents such as solvent, Cu‐catalyst, ligands, and azido‐terminated prepolymers were relatively inert. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 726–737     

Novel synthesis of biodegradable star poly(ethylene glycol)‐block‐poly(lactide) copolymers

Biodegradable star‐shaped poly(ethylene glycol)‐block‐poly(lactide) copolymers were synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization of lactide, using star poly(ethylene glycol) as an initiator and potassium hexamethyldisilazide as a catalyst. Polymerizations were carried out in toluene at room temperature. Two series of three‐ and four‐armed PEG‐PLA copolymers were synthesized and characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) as well as ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The polymerization under the used conditions is very fast, yielding copolymers of controlled molecular weight and tailored molecular architecture. The chemical structure of the copolymers investigated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR indicates the formation of block copolymers. The monomodal profile of molecular weight distribution by GPC provided further evidence of controlled and defined star‐shaped copolymers as well as the absence of cyclic oligomeric species. The effects of copolymer composition and lactide stereochemistry on the physical properties were investigated by GPC and differential scanning calorimetry. For the same PLA chain length, the materials obtained in the case of linear copolymers are more viscous, whereas in the case of star copolymer, solid materials are obtained with reduction in their T_g and T_m temperatures. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3966–3974, 2007     

Vinyl‐type polymerization of norbornene by nickel(II) bisbenzimidazole catalysts

Novel nickel(II) bisbenzimidazole complexes were prepared via a three‐step synthetic procedure consisting of aniline/diacid condensation, ligand N‐alkylation, and metal complexation. The complexes were characterized by X‐ray crystallography and found to possess a pseudotetrahedral geometry. Upon activation with methylaluminoxane, these nickel bisbenzimidazoles did not polymerize simple olefins (e.g., ethylene, propylene, and 1‐butene) but were found to carry out the rapid and efficient polymerization of norbornene. The polynorbornene products were characterized by gel permeation chromatography/light scattering, ¹³C NMR, and IR, and their Mark–Houwink and dn/dc parameters were determined. The molecular weights of the polynorbornenes were very high (weight‐average molecular weight = 587,000–797,000 g/mol). ¹³C NMR suggested that the polymerization occurred via vinyl addition (i.e., a 2,3‐linked polymer); no ring‐opened product was observed. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the polynorbornenes were stable up to 400 °C under nitrogen. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2095–2106, 2003     

Synthesis and optical properties of green‐light‐emitting copolymers containing side‐chain oxadiazole units

Atom transfer radical polymerization was used to prepare well‐defined vinyl polyoxadiazole homomacromonomers with a properly modified α‐dicarboxylic acid methyl ester as the initiator. Macromonomers of various molecular weights with narrow polydispersities in some cases were obtained, as proved by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The structures of the obtained macromonomers were then identified with ¹H NMR spectroscopy. These macromonomers were subsequently copolymerized with a dihydroxy anthracene based monomer by a polycondensation technique, and this resulted in polymacromonomers. Coil–rod–coil copolymers containing side‐chain anthracene and oxadiazole units were also synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. The resulting copolymers combined an anthracene derivative as the rigid block with a random copolymer of the desired anthracene‐ and/or oxadiazole‐based monomers as the flexible block. These copolymers were primarily characterized with GPC and ¹H NMR techniques. Additionally, the optical properties of all these copolymers were investigated in detail, and they suggested energy transfer from the oxadiazole to the anthracene chromophores, which became much more efficient in the solid state. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1049–1061, 2005