Spontaneous reactions of electron‐accepting substituted quinodimethane with substituted styrenes: Inductive and steric effects on the formation of a zwitterionic intermediate

Spontaneous reactions of an electron‐accepting substituted quinodimethane, 1‐(2,2‐dimethyl‐1,3‐dioxane‐4,6‐dione‐5‐ylidene)‐4‐(dicyanomethylene)‐2,5‐cyclohexadiene, with p‐substituted, α‐substituted, and β‐substituted styrenes were investigated. When p‐substituted styrenes were used as comonomers, no spontaneous reactions took place for styrenes with an electron‐accepting p substituent such as COOMe and CN groups, and both terpolymers and cycloadducts were formed for the other p‐substituted styrenes. When α‐substituted and β‐substituted styrenes were used as comonomers, no reactions occurred for α‐ and β‐substituted styrenes with a bulky phenyl group, and spontaneous reactions took place for those with a smaller methyl group. The reaction products were an alternating copolymer for α‐substituted styrene and both terpolymers and 5‐ethylidene‐2,5‐dimethyl‐1,3‐dioxane‐4,6‐dione for β‐substituted styrenes. The position of the methyl group in the styrenes significantly affected the product formation. This behavior in the spontaneous reactions was discussed on the basis of the ability of formation of the zwitterionic tetramethylene intermediate and its conformation, determined by polar and steric effects of the substituents in the substituted styrenes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5195–5206, 2005     

Homopolymerization of ω‐Styryl‐Polystyrene Macromonomers in the Presence of CpTiF3/MAO

Summary: ω‐Styryl‐polystyrene macromonomers were synthesized by anionic induced deactivation reactions. Their homopolymerization in the presence of a fluorinated half‐sandwich metallocene catalyst (CpTiF₃/MAO) was investigated. In spite of the intrinsic lower reactivity of these macromonomers with respect to the micromolecular monomer, coordination homopolymerization was possible. The influence of several experimental parameters on the polymerization yield and degree could be demonstrated. In most cases, under identical experimental conditions, higher polymerization yields and degrees were observed with respect to the CpTiCl₃/MAO catalyst.

The synthesis of p‐polystyryl‐substituted styrene derivatives by the homopolymerization of ω‐styryl‐polystyrene macromonomers in the presence of CpTiF₃.     

Polymerization of 4‐methylpentene and vinylcyclohexane by amine bis(phenolate) titanium and zirconium complexes

The polymerization of the substituted olefins 4‐methylpentene and vinylcyclohexane by dibenzyl titanium and zirconium complexes of three amine bis(phenolate) ligands is reported. The ligands featured a dimethylamino side‐arm donor and either electron‐withdrawing (Cl and Br) or methyl phenolate substituents. After activation with B(C₆F₅)₃, the zirconium catalysts exhibited a higher activity than the titanium catalysts toward these bulky olefins. Very high weight‐average molecular weight poly(4‐methylpentene) was obtained with the zirconium catalysts. The zirconium catalysts were employed in 1‐hexene polymerization, and their activity was found to be the highest ever reported for catalysts of the amine bis(phenolate) family. The catalysts featuring methyl phenolate substituents showed a higher activity toward these substituted olefins than the electron‐poor catalysts; this trend was opposite to their activity toward 1‐hexene. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1136–1146, 2006     

Structure–property relationship of phenoxyimine ligands/metal chloride initiating systems for controlled cationic polymerizations of alkyl vinyl ethers

The catalyst structure–property relationships of the phenoxyimine complexes in controlled cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers were investigated based on the Hammett correlation. The correlation analyses of a series of experiments using the phenoxyimine ligands/TiCl₄ initiating systems indicated that the substituents on the N‐aryl phenoxyimine ligands affected the polymerization rate and stereoselectivity. Importantly, a linear correlation was observed between the Hammett substituent constants and the polymerization rates, which indicates that the Lewis acidity of the complex is affected by the electron‐withdrawing and ‐donating effects of the substituents. The tacticity of product polymers correlated to the Hammett substituent constants. Unlike the relationship with the polymerization rates, the σ^– values, which account for the enhanced resonance effects, were more appropriate for the relationship with the tacticity than the normal σ values. In contrast, the polymerization behavior using o‐substituted ligands exhibited a trend different from those using p‐ or m‐substituted ligands. The structural change, which was caused by the rotation of the C? N bonding, most likely triggered the acceleration effect in the case of the o‐substituents. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2021–2029     

Synthesis and ring‐opening polymerization of new monoalkyl‐substituted lactides

New monoalkyl‐substituted lactides were synthesized by reaction of α‐hydroxy acids with 2‐bromopropionyl bromide, and polymerized with various catalysts in the presence of benzyl alcohol by ring‐opening polymerization (ROP). The classic tin(II) 2‐ethylhexanoate (Sn(Oct)₂) catalyst was leading to polymers with narrow distribution and predictable molecular weights, in polymerizations in bulk or toluene at 100 °C. The polymerization rate was corresponding to the steric hindrance of the alkyl substituents, such as butyl, hexyl, benzyl, isopropyl, and dimethyl groups. A yield of 83% was obtained with the hexyl‐substituted lactide after 1 h of polymerization. Excellent conversions (97%) could be achieved by using the alternative catalyst 4‐(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP). This latter organic catalyst was most efficient in polymerizing the more steric‐hindered lactides with good molecular weight and polydispersity control, in comparison to the tin(II) 2‐ethylhexanoate and tin(II) trifluoromethane sulfonate [Sn(OTf)₂] catalysts. The efficiency of the DMAP catalyst and the variability of the monomer synthesis route for new alkyl‐substituted lactides allow to prepare and to envision a wide range of new functionalized polylactides for the elaboration of tailored materials. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4379–4391, 2004     

Density functional study for the polymerization of ethylene monomer using a new nickel catalyst

The present computational study was designed to study the polymerization of ethylene catalyzed by a new Ni‐based PymNox organometallic compound. Recently, we have synthesized and tested the behavior of this type of catalyst in olefin polymerization. It has been experimentally observed that the unsubstituted catalyst Ni2 (aldimino PymNox catalyst ) is less active than the methyl substituted Ni1 (acetaldimino PymNox catalyst ) analogue. The reactivity of both catalysts was examined using density functional theory (DFT) models. Our results indicate that the methyl substituted Ni1 introduces some additional steric hindrance that probably renders a more suitable catalyst conformation for the monomer incorporation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1160–1165, 2010     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of N‐vinyl carbazole: Optimization to characterization

The homopolymerization of N‐vinylcarbazole was performed with atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with Cu(I)/Cu(II)/2,2′‐bipyridine (bpy) as the catalyst system at 90 °C in toluene. N‐2‐Bromoethyl carbazole was used as the initiator, and the optimized ratio of Cu(I) to Cu(II) was found to be 1/0.3. The resulting homopolymer, poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK), was formed after a monomer conversion of 76% in 20 h. The molecular weight as well as the polydispersity index (PDI) showed a linear relation with the conversion, which showed control over the polymerization. A semilogarithmic plot of the monomer conversion with time was linear, indicating the presence of constant active species throughout the polymerization. The initiator efficiency and the effect of the variation of the initiator concentration on the polymerization were studied. The effects of the addition of CuBr₂, the variation of the catalyst concentration with respect to the initiator, and CuX (X = Br or Cl) on the kinetics of homopolymerization were determined. With Cu(0)/CuBr₂/bpy as the catalyst, faster polymerization was observed. For a chain‐extension experiments, PVK (number‐average molecular weight = 1900; PDI = 1.24) was used as a macroinitiator for the ATRP of methyl methacrylate, and this resulted in the formation of a block copolymer that gave a monomodal curve in gel permeation chromatography. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1745–1757, 2006     

Effect of an alkyl substituted in salen ligands on 1,4‐Cis selectivity and molecular weight control in the polymerization of 1,3‐butadiene with (salen)Co(II) complexes in combination with methylaluminoxane

The effect of an alkyl substituted in the aromatic ring of the salen ligand on the polymerization of butadiene (Bd) with (salen)Co(II) complexes in combination with methylaluminoxane (MAO) was investigated. The activity for the polymerization of Bd was influenced significantly by the introduction of alkyl groups at the 3,3′,5,5′‐positions in the aromatic ring of the salen ligand, and both the polymerization rate and 1,4‐cis contents increased in the following order with respect to the alkyl group: H < CH₃ < t‐C₄H₉. This is in good agreement with the bulkiness of the alkyl groups. The activity for the polymerization of the (salen)Co(II) complex possessing t‐C₄H₉ at the 3,3′‐positions was higher than that of the (salen)Co(II) bearing t‐C₄H₉ at the 5,5′‐positions. Thus, the introduction of bulky substituents at the 3,3′‐positions of the salen ligand was an important factor in achieving both high activity and high 1,4‐cis selectivity in the polymerization of Bd with (salen)Co(II) complexes in combination with MAO. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4088–4094, 2006     

Influence of the amine structure on the polymerization of methyl methacrylate photoinitiated by aromatic ketone/amine

The polymerization of methyl methacrylate photoinitiated by 2‐chlorothioxanthone in the presence of amines of different structures has been investigated. The photoinitiation efficiency of these systems is highly dependent on the structure of the amine. The polymerization rate increases with the amine concentration, reaching a constant value in an amine concentration range of 10–30 mM. At these amine concentrations, aliphatic hydroxyalkyl amines are more efficient photoinitiators than the corresponding alkyl‐substituted compounds. Dimethylanilines with electron‐acceptor substituents in the 4‐position give higher polymerization rates than electron‐donor‐substituted anilines. The photophysics of these photoinitiation systems has been studied in the polymerization medium. These data show that the singlet and triplet excited states of thioxanthones are efficiently deactivated by the amine. Rate constants are well correlated to the oxidation potential of the amine. These studies have allowed us to simulate the dependence of the photoinitiation efficiency with the amine concentration and indicate that the active radicals are produced from the interaction of the ketone triplet with the amine. Also, photochemical studies have allowed us to establish that the dependence of the polymerization rate on structural features of amines is mainly due to differences in the fraction of produced active radicals that add to the monomer. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2888–2893, 2002     

Preparation of polyacrylonitrile via SET‐LRP catalyzed by lanthanum powder in the presence of VC

A novel catalyst system based on La(0)/hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) complexes is used for single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) in the presence of ascorbic acid (VC) with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) as a initiator and N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent. Compared with SET‐LRP of AN in the absence of VC, monomer conversion is markedly increased. SET‐LRP of AN in the presence of VC is also conducted in the presence of air. The kinetic studies show that the polymerizations both in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of air proceed in a well‐controlled manner. With the respect to the polymerization in the absence of oxygen, the polymerization in the presence of air provides slower reaction rate and broader polydispersity. Effects of amount of VC, La, CCl₄, and are investigated in detail. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4088–4094     

Aminimides derived from p‐substituted benzoylformic acid ester as thermal/photolatent bases and photoradical initiators

Derivatives of 1,1‐dimethyl‐1‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)amine benzoylformimide (BFI and 1a–c) were synthesized from 1,1‐dimethylhydrazine, propylene oxide, and p‐substituted benzoylformic acid ester, respectively, and their activity as thermal/photolatent bases and photoradical initiators was studied in detail. Their thermal decomposition activity increased by the electron‐donating substituents on the benzene ring, being in order of 1a (p‐NMe₂) > 1b (p‐MeO) > BFI (H) > 1c (p‐NO₂). Photolysis activities were also affected by the substituents, in the following order: 1b > BFI > 1a > 1c. Thermal and photoinduced base‐catalyzed polymerization of the epoxide/thiol system and photoradical polymerization of a vinyl monomer, 2‐hydroxylethyl methacrylate, were carried out by using the aminimides as latent initiators. Their activity as thermal base and photobase/radical initiators could be correlated to their thermal decomposition and the photolysis activity, respectively. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 4292–4300     

Air‐stable and recoverable catalyst for copper‐catalyzed controlled/living radical polymerization of styrene; In situ generation of Cu(I) species via electron transfer reaction

Copper‐catalyzed controlled/living radical polymerization (LRP) of styrene (St) was conducted using the silica gel‐supported CuCl₂/N,N,N′,N′,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (SG‐CuCl₂/PMDETA) complex as catalyst at 110 °C in the presence of a definite amount of air. This novel approach is based on in situ generation and regeneration of Cu(I) via electron transfer reaction between phenols and Cu(II). Sodium phenoxide or p‐methoxyphenol was used as a reducing agent of Cu(II) complexes in LRP. The number–average molecular weight, M_n,GPC, increases linearly with monomer conversion and agrees well with the theoretical values up to 85% conversion The molecular weight distribution, M_w/M_n, decreases as the conversion increases and reaches values below 1.2. The catalyst was recovered in aerobic condition and reused in copper‐catalyzed LRP of St. For the second run, the number–average molecular weights increased with monomer conversion and the polydispersities decreased as the polymerization proceeded and reached to the value <1.3 at 81% conversion. The recycled catalyst retained 90% of its original activity in the subsequent polymerization. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 77–87, 2006     

Copolymerization of propylene with 1‐octene catalyzed by rac‐Me2Si(2,4,6‐Me3‐Ind)2ZrCl2/methyl aluminoxane

The copolymerization of propylene with 1‐octene was carried out with rac‐dimethylsilylbis(2,4,6‐trimethylindenyl)zirconium dichloride as a catalyst activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) and an MAO/triisobutylaluminum mixture. The copolymerization conditions, including the polymerization temperature, Al/Zr molar ratio, and 1‐octene concentration in the feed, significantly influenced the catalyst activity, 1‐octene incorporation, polymer molecular weight, and melting temperature. The addition of 1‐octene to the polymerization system caused a decrease in the activity, whereas the melting temperature and intrinsic viscosity of the polymer increased. The microstructure of the propylene–1‐octene copolymer was characterized by ¹³C NMR, and the reactivity ratios of the copolymerization were estimated from the dyad distribution of the monomer sequences. The amount of regioirregular structures arising from 2,1‐ and 1,3‐misinserted propylene decreased as the 1‐octene content increased. The influence of the propagation chain on the polymerization mechanism is proposed to be the main reason for the changes in the reactivity ratios and regioirregularity with the polymerization conditions. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4299–4307, 2000     

Substituent effects in free radical copolymerization of substituted styrenes with acrylates and methacrylates

Relative reactivity ratios have been determined for o-chlorostyrene with five lower acrylates and methacrylates, respectively, and for methyl acrylate with a number of substituted styrenes in free-radical copolymerization. Analysis of the data shows that: (a) acrylates are less reactive than methacrylates with o-chlorostyrene; (b) length of the side chain has little or no effect in methacrylates, but its effect is pronounced in acrylates with respect to their reactivity ratios; (c) chlorine substitution in the side chain of either acrylates or methacrylates has a significant influence on the reactivity ratio; (d) relative reactivity ratio data for methyl acrylate with substituted styrenes fail to show the expected relationship between monomer structure and resonance theory, inductive effect and, consequently, the Hammett σ values.     

A Critical Survey of Dithiocarbamate Reversible Addition‐Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) Agents in Radical Polymerization

This article provides a critical review of the properties, synthesis, and applications of dithiocarbamates Z′Z″NC(=S)SR as mediators in reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. These are among the most versatile RAFT agents. Through choice of substituents on nitrogen (Z′, Z″), the polymerization of most monomer types can be controlled to provide living characteristics (i.e., low dispersities, high end‐group fidelity, and access to complex architectures). These include the more activated monomers (MAMs; e.g., styrenes and acrylates) and the less activated monomers (LAMs; e.g., vinyl esters and vinylamides). Dithiocarbamates with balanced activity (e.g., 1H‐pyrazole‐1‐carbodithioates) or switchable RAFT agents [e.g., a N‐methyl‐N‐(4‐pyridinyl)dithiocarbamate] allow control MAMs and LAMs with a single RAFT agent and provide a pathway to low‐dispersity poly(MAM)‐block‐poly(LAM). © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 216–227     

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     

Block copolymers by chemoenzymatic cascade polymerization: A comparison of consecutive and simultaneous reactions

The synthetic parameters for the chemoenzymatic cascade synthesis of block copolymers combining enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (EROP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in one pot were investigated. A detailed analysis of the mutual interactions between the single reaction components revealed that the ATRP catalyst system could have a significant inhibiting effect on the enzyme activity. The inhibition of the enzyme was less pronounced in the presence of multivalent ligands such as dinonyl bipyridine, which thus could be used in this reaction as an ATRP catalyst. Moreover, the choice of the ATRP monomer was investigated. Methyl methacrylate interfered with EROP by transesterification, whereas t‐butyl methacrylate was inert. Block copolymers were successfully synthesized with this cascade approach by the activation of ATRP after EROP by the addition of the ATRP catalyst and, with lower block copolymer yields, by the mixing of all the components before the copolymerization. Adetailed kinetic analysis of the reactions and the structure of the block copolymers showed that the first procedure proceeded smoothly to high block copolymer yields, whereas in the latter a noteworthy amount of the poly(t‐butyl methacrylate) homopolymer was detected. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4290–4297, 2006     

Synthesis and characterization of a silyl substituted bis(indenyl) zirconium dichloride and comparison of its olefin polymerization behavior to a siloxy substituted analogue

The synthesis and characterization of rac‐[ethylenebis(1‐(tert‐butyldimethylsilyl)‐3‐indenyl)]zirconium dichloride ( 3 ) is reported. The silyl substituted 3 /MAO was compared to its siloxy substituted analogue ( 4 ) in ethylene homo‐ and in ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymerizations to elucidate the effect of the heteroatom on polymerization performance. The influence of monomer and cocatalyst concentration and the polymerization temperature was investigated. The oxygen between the indenyl ligand and the bulky tert‐butyldimethylsilyl group in the siloxy substituted 4 /MAO was found to have a positive influence on polymerization activity and copolymerization performance. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 127–133, 2001     

Samarium powder as catalyst for SET‐LRP of acrylonitrile in 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol for control of molecular weight and tacticity

Samarium powder was applied as a catalyst for single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) in 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol (HFIP) with 2‐bromopropionitrile as initiator and N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine as ligand. First‐order kinetics of polymerization with respect to the monomer concentration, linear increase of the molecular weight with monomer conversion, and the highly syndiotactic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) obtained indicate that the SET‐LRP of AN could simultaneously control molecular weight and tacticity of PAN. An increase in syndiotacticity of PAN obtained in HFIP was observed compared with that obtained by SET‐LRP in N,‐N‐dimethylformamide (DMF). The syndiotacticity markedly increased with the HFIP volume. The syndiotacticity of PAN prepared by SET‐LRP of AN using Sm powder as catalyst in DMF was higher than that prepared with Cu powder as catalyst. The increase in syndiotacticity of PAN with Sm content was more pronounced than the increase in its isotacticity. The block copolymer PAN‐b‐polymethyl methacrylate (52,310 molecular weight and 1.34 polydispersity) was successfully prepared. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Vinyl polymerization of norbornene by bis(nitro‐substituted‐salicylaldiminate)nickel(II)/methylaluminoxane catalysts

The polymerization of norbornene has been investigated in the presence of different bis(salicylaldiminate)nickel(II) precursors activated by methylaluminoxane. These systems are highly active in affording nonstereoregular vinyl‐type polynorbornenes (PNBs) with high molecular weights. The productivity of the catalytic systems is strongly enhanced (up to 35,000 kg of PNB/mol of Ni × h) when electron‐withdrawing nitro groups are introduced on the phenol moiety. On the contrary, the presence of bulky alkyl groups on the N‐aryl moiety of the ligand does not substantially affect the activity or characteristics of the resulting PNBs. The catalytic performances are also markedly influenced by the reaction parameters, such as the nature of the solvent, the reaction time, and the monomer/Ni and Al/Ni molar ratios. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1514–1521, 2006