Copolymerization of ethylene or propylene with α‐olefins containing hydroxyl groups with zirconocene/methylaluminoxane catalyst

Copolymerization of olefins (ethylene and propylene) and 5‐hexen‐1‐ol pretreated with alkylaluminum was performed using [dimethysilylbis(9‐fluorenyl)]zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane as the catalyst. The copolymerization required extra addition of alkylaluminum to prevent deactivation of the catalyst when 5‐hexen‐1‐ol was pretreated with trimethylaluminum, whereas the triisobutylaluminum‐treated system did not require any addition of alkylaluminum. The molecular weight of the copolymer depended on the kind of alkylaluminum compound (masking reagent, additive, and cocatalyst). ¹³C NMR analysis proved that poly(ethylene‐co‐5‐hexen‐1‐ol) containing 50 mol % of 5‐hexen‐1‐ol acted as an alternating copolymer, whereas the poly(propylene‐co‐5‐hexen‐1‐ol) acted as a random copolymer. The surface property of the copolymers was simply evaluated by means of water drop contact angle measurement. It was found that the copolymers containing large amounts of 5‐hexen‐1‐ol units showed good hydrophilic properties. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 52–58, 2004     

Propylene polymerizations with a binary metallocene system—Chain shuttling caused by trimethylaluminium between active catalyst centers

Propylene was polymerized at varying trimethylaluminium (TMA) concentration with a homogeneous binary metallocene catalyst system activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) in an attempt to better understand interactions between active catalyst sites and to clarify the role of the TMA as a chain shuttling agent. TMA‐free polymerization conditions were obtained by chemical treatment of MAO solution with 2,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐methylphenol (BHT). A binary catalyst system consisting of catalyst precursors diphenylmethyl(cyclopentadienyl)(9‐fluorenyl)zirconium dichloride ( 1 ) producing high M_w syndiotactic polypropylene and rac‐dimethylsilylbis(4‐tert‐butyl‐2‐methyl‐cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride ( 2 ) producing low M_w isotactic polypropylene was investigated. At the studied polymerization conditions, chain shuttling between the active catalysts caused by TMA was confirmed. The chain shuttling reactions caused changes in catalyst activity, molecular weights, melting behavior, and polymer microstructure. We propose that TMA is capable to transfer a growing polymer chain from catalyst 2 to catalyst 1 , and a stereoblock copolymer is formed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1364–1376, 2007     

Pressure and trimethylaluminum effects on ethene/1‐hexene copolymerization with methylaluminoxane‐activated (1,2,4‐Me3Cp)2ZrCl2: Trimethylaluminum suppression of standard termination reactions after 1‐hexene insertion

Ethene homopolymerizations and copolymerizations with 1‐hexene were catalyzed by methylaluminoxane‐activated (1,2,4‐Me₃Cp)₂ZrCl₂. Investigations of the effects of various pressures on the homopolymerizations and copolymerizations and of the effects of different concentrations of trimethylaluminum (TMA) on the copolymerizations were performed. The characteristics of the ethene/1‐hexene copolymers agreed with expectations for changes in the ethene concentration: the incorporation of 1‐hexene decreased, whereas the melting point and crystallinity increased, with increasing pressure. The main termination mechanism of the homopolymerizations was β‐hydrogen transfer to the monomer. Termination mechanisms resulting in vinylidene unsaturations dominated in the copolymerizations. Standard termination mechanisms producing vinyl and trans‐vinylene unsaturations occurred in parallel and were not influenced by the ethene or TMA concentration. In addition, some chain transfer to TMA, producing saturated end groups after hydrolysis, occurred. Copolymerizations with different additions of TMA, with the other polymerization conditions kept constant, showed that the catalytic productivity [tons of polyethylene/(mol of Zr h)], the 1‐hexene incorporation, and the molecular weight (from gel permeation chromatography) were independent of the TMA concentration. Surprisingly, the vinylidene content decreased almost linearly with increasing TMA concentration. TMA might have coordinated to the catalytic site after 1‐hexene insertion and rotation to the β‐agostic state and, therefore, suppressed the standard termination reactions after 1‐hexene insertion. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2584–2597, 2005     

Kinetics of hexene‐1 polymerization using [(N,N′‐diisopropylbenzene)‐2,3‐(1,8‐napthyl)‐1,4‐diazabutadiene] dibromonickel/methylaluminoxane catalyst system

Kinetics of hexene‐1 polymerization was investigated using [(N,N′‐diisopropylbenzene)2,3‐(1,8‐napthly)‐1,4‐diazabutadiene]dibromonickel/methylaluminoxane catalyst. Experiments were performed at varying catalyst and monomer concentrations in the temperature range of ?10 to 35 °C. First order time‐conversion plot shows a downward curvature at temperatures of 20 °C and 35 °C indicating the presence of finite termination reactions. A nonlinear plot of degree of polymerization (P_n) with respect to conversion indicates occurrence of transfer reactions and slow initiation. The experimental molar masses are higher than predicted, which implies that a fraction of catalyst species could not be activated or is deactivated at the early stages of the reactions. The efficiency of the catalyst (Cat_eff) varies from 0.77 to 0.89. The observed polydispersity of the poly(hexene‐1) s is in the range of 1.18–1.48. The reaction order was found to be 1.11 with respect to catalyst. The Arrhenius plot obtained using the overall propagation rate constant, k_p, at five different temperatures (?10, 0, 10, 20, and 35 °C) was found to be linear with an activation energy, E_a = 4.3 kcal/mol. Based on the results presented it is concluded that the polymerization of hexene‐1 under the above‐mentioned conditions shows significant deviation from ideal “living” behavior. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1093–1100, 2007     

Atom transfer radical polymerization using activators regenerated by electron transfer of acrylonitrile in 1‐(1‐ethoxycarbonylethyl)‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophospate

Atom transfer radical polymerization using activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET ATRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) was first approached with 1‐(1‐ethoxycarbonylethyl)‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([ecemim][BF₄]) as reaction medium and tin(II) bis(2‐ethylhexanoate) (Sn(EH)₂) as reducing agent in the presence of air. When compared with in bulk, an obvious increase of polymer isotacticity was observed for ARGET ATRP of AN in 1‐(1‐ethoxycarbonylethyl)‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophospate ([ecemim][PF₆]), the reaction rate of ARGET ATRP of AN in [ecemim][PF₆] was higher and the polymerization process was better controlled. The block copolymer polyacrylonitrile‐block‐poly(methyl methacrylate) with molecular weight at 69,750, distribution at 1.34, and isotacticity at 0.36 was successfully obtained in [ecemim][PF₆]. [Ecemim][PF₆] and the catalyst system were recycled and reused and had no effect on the living nature of polymerization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Iron(III)‐mediated AGET ATRP of styrene using tris(3,6‐dioxaheptyl)amine as a ligand

A commercially available tris(3,6‐dioxaheptyl)amine (TDA‐1) was used as a novel ligand for activator generated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP) of styrene in bulk or solution mediated by iron(III) catalyst in the presence of a limited amount of air. FeCl₃ · 6H₂O and (1‐bromoethyl)benzene (PEBr) were used as the catalyst and initiator, respectively; and environmentally benign ascorbic acid (VC) was used as the reducing agent. The polymerizations show the features of “living”/controlled free‐radical polymerizations and well‐defined polystyrenes with molecular weight M_n = 2400–36,500 g/mol and narrow polydispersity (M_w/M_n = 1.11–1.29) were obtained. The “living” feature of the obtained polymer was further confirmed by a chain‐extension experiment. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2002–2008, 2009     

Vanadium alkoxide catalyzed polymerization of vinyl chloride

The polymerization of vinyl chloride (VC) with vanadium complex/alkylaluminum catalyst was investigated. In the case of polymerization with vanadium oxytriethoxide (VO(OEt)₃), poly(vinyl chloride) was obtained in a good yield. The effect of cocatalyst, solvent, and cocatalyst/precatalyst ratio was observed. The structure of the polymer obtained with VO(OEt)₃/i‐Bu₃Al catalyst consisted of regular head‐to‐tail sequence and isobutyl chain‐end structure. VO(OEt)₃/alkylaluminum catalyst was able to copolymerize VC with styrene, 1‐butene, methyl methacrylate, and methyl acrylate. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Rate coefficients for the gas‐phase reactions of OH radicals with methylbutenols at 298 K

The relative‐rate method has been used to determine the rate coefficients for the reactions of OH radicals with three C₅ biogenic alcohols, 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol (k₁), 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol (k₂), and 3‐methyl‐2‐buten‐1‐ol (k₃), in the gas phase. OH radicals were produced by the photolysis of CH₃ONO in the presence of NO. Di‐n‐butyl ether and propene were used as the reference compounds. The absolute rate coefficients obtained with the two reference compounds agreed well with each other. The O₃ and O‐atom reactions with the target alcohols were confirmed to have a negligible contribution to their total losses by using two kinds of light sources with different relative rates of CH₃ONO and NO₂ photolysis. The absolute rate coefficients were obtained as the weighted mean values for the two reference compound systems and were k₁ = (6.6 ± 0.5) × 10^?11, k₂ = (9.7 ± 0.7) × 10^?11, and k₃ = (1.5 ± 0.1) × 10^?10 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 at 298 ± 2 K and 760 torr of air. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 379–385 2004     

Polymerization of conjugated 5‐[(5‐ethynyl‐1‐naphthyl)ethynyl]‐N,N‐dimethylnaphthalen‐1‐amine with rhodium and palladium complexes

The monomer 5‐[(5‐ethynyl‐1‐naphthyl)ethynyl]‐N,N‐dimethylnaphthalen‐1‐amine was satisfactory obtained through the heterocoupling reaction of 5‐ethynyl‐N,N‐dimethylnaphthalen‐1‐amine and 4‐(5‐iodo‐1‐naphthyl)‐2‐methyl‐3‐butyn‐2‐ol catalyzed by a palladium–copper system, followed by acetone elimination. Poly{5‐[(5‐ethynyl‐1‐naphthyl)ethynyl]‐N,N‐dimethylnaphthalen‐1‐amine} was obtained through the reaction of the acetylene monomer with homogeneous rhodium and palladium catalyst complexes. The structure of the polymers always showed a trans–cisoidal chain configuration on the basis of IR and NMR spectra. Moreover, only for the rhodium catalyst complex in methanol was a dimeric product isolated in a very low yield, having a conjugated terminal ene–yne structure, which permitted the consideration of a metallated chain‐transfer intermediate in the polymer propagation. The mass determination of the polymers, by osmometry and gel permeation chromatography techniques, showed low average molecular weights. The kinetics of the catalyzed polymerization were analyzed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2038–2047, 2007     

Anionic polymerization of 4‐phenyl‐1‐buten‐3‐yne derivatives bearing electron‐withdrawing groups

The anionic polymerization of derivatives of 4‐phenyl‐1‐buten‐3‐yne was carried out to investigate the effect of substituents on the polymerization behavior. The polymerization of 4‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐1‐buten‐3‐yne and 4‐(2‐fluorophenyl)‐1‐buten‐3‐yne in tetrahydrofuran at −78 °C with n‐BuLi/sparteine as an initiator gave polymers consisting of 1,2‐ and 1,4‐polymerized units in quantitative yields with ratios of 80/20 and 88/12, respectively. The molecular weights of the polymers were controlled by the ratio of the monomers to n‐BuLi, and the distribution was relatively narrow (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight < 1.2), supporting the living nature of the polymerization. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1016–1023, 2001     

Synthesis of polyacrylonitrile mediated by manganese(III) acetylacetonate (Mn(acac)3) and 2‐cyanoprop‐2‐yl dithionaphthalenoate

2‐Cyanoprop‐2‐yl dithionaphthalenoate (CPDN) was successfully used as the chain transfer agent to prepare polyacrylonitrile in combination with manganese(III) acetylacetonate (Mn(acac)₃) as the initiator. The novel polymerization exhibited well “living”/controlled characteristics. The polymerization behavior was revealed to comply with features of reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization process. Mn(acac)₃ played a key role as the initiator rather than the radical trapping agent in polymerization and exhibited better control performance than azo‐initiator. The narrowest molecular weight distribution was 1.31 under the condition of [AN]₀:[Mn(acac)₃]₀:[CPDN]₀ = 200:1:0.025 and AN:DMF = 1:1 (V/V). Various feed ratios of Mn(acac)₃ and CPDN were also investigated in detail. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1305–1309     

Kinetics and mechanisms of OH‐initiated oxidation of small unsaturated alcohols

Smog chamber relative rate techniques were used to measure rate coefficients of (5.00 ± 0.54) × 10^?11, (5.87 ± 0.63) × 10^?11, and (6.49 ± 0.82) × 10^?11 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 in 700 Torr air at 296 ± 1 K for reactions of OH radicals with allyl alcohol, 1‐buten‐3‐ol, and 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol, respectively; the quoted uncertainties encompass the extremes of determinations using two different reference compounds. The OH‐initiated oxidation of allyl alcohol in the presence of NO_x gives glycolaldehyde in a molar yield of 0.85 ± 0.08; the quoted uncertainty is two standard deviations. Oxidation of 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol gives acetone and glycolaldehyde in molar yields of 0.66 ± 0.06 and 0.56 ± 0.05, respectively. The reaction of OH radicals with allyl alcohol, 1‐buten‐3‐ol, and 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol proceeds predominately via addition to the >C?CH₂ double bond with most of the addition occurring to the terminal carbon. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 151–158, 2010     

Cationic polymerizations of 2‐alkyloxazolines catalyzed by bismuth salts

Acidic bismuth salts, such as BiCl₃, BiBr₃, BiJ₃, and Bi‐triflate catalyzed the ring‐opening polymerization of 2‐methoxazoline (MOZ) in bulk at 100 °C, whereas less acidic salts such as Bi₂O₃ or Bi(III)acetate did not. Bi‐triflate‐catalyzed polymerizations of 2‐ethyloxazoline (EtOZ) were performed with variation of the monomer–catalyst ratio (M/C). It was found that the molecular weights were independent of the M/C ratio. The formation of cationic chain ends and the absence of cycles was proven by reactions of virgin polymerization products with N,N‐dimethyl‐4‐aminopyridine or triphenylphosphine. The resulting polymers having modified cationic chain ends were characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry. The polymerization mechanism including chain‐transfer reactions is discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4777–4784, 2008     

Solving the loss of orthogonality during the polyaddition of α‐azide‐ω‐alkyne monomers catalyzed by Cu(PPh3)3Br: Application to the synthesis of high‐molar mass polytriazoles

Polyaddition of an α‐azide‐ω‐alkyne monomer by Cu(PPh₃)₃Br catalyzed 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition was thoroughly studied as a model system to investigate the orthogonality of this click chemistry process. Indeed, loss of chain‐end functionality and occurrence of side reactions have a tremendous impact on the molar mass of polymers obtained by step growth polymerization. Particularly, SEC, ¹H, and ³¹P NMR experiments have highlighted the occurrence of a Staudinger side‐reaction between azide chain‐ends and PPh₃ from the copper(I) catalyst that dramatically alters M_n of the resulting polytriazoles. A significant enhancement of M_n could be achieved by using an alternative catalyst and optimized experimental conditions, that is, dilution and reaction time. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2470–2476, 2010     

Tetramethylguanidino‐tris(2‐aminoethyl)amine: A novel ligand for copper‐based atom transfer radical polymerization

With CuBr/tetramethylguanidino‐tris(2‐aminoethyl)amine (TMG₃‐TREN) as the catalyst, the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate, n‐butyl acrylate, styrene, and acrylonitrile was conducted. The catalyst concentration of 0.5 equiv with respect to the initiator was enough to prepare well‐defined poly(methyl methacrylate) in bulk from methyl methacrylate monomer. For ATRP of n‐butyl acrylate, the catalyst behaved in a manner similar to that reported for CuBr/tris[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine. A minimum of 0.05 equiv of the catalyst with respect to the initiator was required to synthesize the homopolymer of the desired molecular weight and low polydispersity at the ambient temperature. In the case of styrene, ATRP with this catalyst occurred only when a 1:1 catalyst/initiator ratio was used in the presence of Cu(0) in ethylene carbonate. The polymerization of acrylonitrile with CuBr/TMG₃‐TREN was conducted successfully with a catalyst concentration of 50% with respect to the initiator in ethylene carbonate. End‐group analysis for the determination of the high degree of functionality of the homopolymers synthesized by the new catalyst was determined by NMR spectroscopy. The isotactic parameter calculated for each system indicated that the homopolymers were predominantly syndiotactic, signifying that the tacticity remained the same, as already reported for ATRP. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5906–5922, 2005     

Synthesis and characterization of well‐defined poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐styrene)‐graft‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) by sequential controlled polymerization

A new graft copolymer, poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐styrene) ‐graft‐poly(?‐caprolactone), was prepared by combination of reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) with coordination‐insertion ring‐opening polymerization (ROP). The copolymerization of styrene (St) and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was carried out at 60 °C in the presence of 2‐phenylprop‐2‐yl dithiobenzoate (PPDTB) using AIBN as initiator. The molecular weight of poly (2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐styrene) [poly(HEMA‐co‐St)] increased with the monomer conversion, and the molecular weight distribution was in the range of 1.09 ～ 1.39. The ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ?‐caprolactone was then initiated by the hydroxyl groups of the poly(HEMA‐co‐St) precursors in the presence of stannous octoate (Sn(Oct)₂). GPC and ¹H‐NMR data demonstrated the polymerization courses are under control, and nearly all hydroxyl groups took part in the initiation. The efficiency of grafting was very high. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5523–5529, 2004     

Living/controlled radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides with styrene in 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and anisole

The atom transfer radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides such as N‐phenylmaleimide (PhMI), N‐cyclohexylmaleimide (ChMI), and N‐butylmaleimide (NBMI) with styrene initiated with dendritic polyarylether 2‐bromoisobutyrates in an ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]), at room temperature and anisole at 110 °C was investigated. The dendritic‐linear block copolymers obtained in ionic liquid possessed well‐defined molecular weight and low polydispersity (1.05 < M_w/M_n < 1.32) and could be used as a macroinitiator for chain‐extension polymerization, suggesting the living nature of the reaction system. The ionic liquids containing catalyst could be recycled in the atom transfer radical polymerization systems without further treatment. Compared with polymerization conducted in anisole, the polymerization in ionic liquid had a stronger tendency for alternation. The tendency for alternation decreased in the order PhMI > NBMI > ChMI in [bmim][PF₆] and PhMI > ChMI > NBMI in anisole. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2156–2165, 2003     

Organoaluminum‐mediated polymerization of diazoketones

Polymerization of diazoketones mediated by organoaluminum compounds was investigated. Trialkylaluminum R₃Al (R = iBu, Et, Me) and diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAL) polymerized (E)‐1‐diazo‐3‐nonen‐2‐one ( 1 ) to give polymers with M_n = 2000–3500, which contained nearly 33 mol % of azo group (? N?N? ) along with the dominant acylmethylene unit in the main chain. On the other hand, when (E)‐1‐diazo‐4‐phenyl‐3‐buten‐2‐one ( 2 ) was used as a monomer for the organoaluminum‐mediated polymerization, the resulting polymers had ethylidene (? CH[CH₃]? ) units in the main chain along with acylmethylene and azo group, as a result of reductive cleavage of the acyl group during the polymerization. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5209–5214, 2007     

Ligand‐free palladium‐catalyzed tandem pathways for the synthesis of 4,4‐diarylbutanones and 4,4‐diaryl‐3‐butenones under microwave conditions

Two efficient Pd‐catalyzed tandem pathways for the synthesis of 4,4‐diaryl‐2‐butanones and 4,4‐diaryl‐3‐buten‐2‐ones were elaborated. The first step in both procedures was the Heck coupling of methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and various aryl iodides leading to 4‐aryl‐3‐buten‐2‐one with the yield of up to 92% in 1 hr. The second step performed with the same catalyst and a new portion of aryl iodide in the presence K₂CO₃ as a base produced 4,4‐diaryl‐3‐buten‐2‐ones in high yield. Reaction selectivity changed completely to saturated 4,4‐diaryl‐2‐butanones, reductive Heck products, when a tertiary amine was used instead of K₂CO₃. Due to the application of microwave irradiation (MW), the desired products were obtained in high yield in a short time (4 hr), using 0.5 mol% of the Pd (OAc)₂ catalyst without additional ligands.     

High‐molecular‐weight side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polyethers based on 4′‐cyanobiphenyl‐4‐oxy mesogenic groups

A set of poly[ω‐(4′‐cyano‐4‐biphenyloxy)alkyl‐1‐glycidylether]s were synthesized by the chemical modification of the corresponding poly(ω‐bromoalkyl‐1‐glycidylether)s with the sodium salt of 4‐cyano‐4′‐hydroxybiphenyl. New high‐molecular‐weight side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polymers were obtained with excellent yield and almost quantitative degree of modification. All side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polymers were rubbers soluble in tetrahydrofuran. The characterization by ¹H and ¹³C NMR revealed no changes in the regioregular isotactic microstructure of the starting polymer and the absence of undesirable side reactions such as deshydrobromination. The liquid crystalline behavior was analyzed by DSC and polarized optical microscopy, and mesophase assignments were confirmed by X‐ray diffraction. Polymers that had alkyl spacers with n = 2 and 4 were nematic, those that had spacers with n = 6 and 8 were nematic cybotactic, and those that had longer spacers (n = 10 and 12) were smectic C and showed some crystallization of the side alkyl chains. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3002–3012, 2004