The effect of solvents on the homopolymerization of 4-dimethylaminostyrene initiated with CCl3COOH

In the polymerization of 4-dimethylaminostyrene (DMAS) initiated with CCl₃COOH in solvents possessing different electron-donor and electron-acceptor properties and relative permittivity (c_r), the c_r value of the solvent correlates well with the polymerization rate. The greatest increase of rate of polymerization in the homogeneous system was observed in nitrobenzene. In this solvent, characteristics of the polymerization of DMAS initiated with CCl₃COOH were determined; differences between these characteristics and the rate equation for a similarly initiated polymerization of DMAS in benzene have been elucidated.     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 2-methoxy ethyl acrylate and its block copolymerization with acrylonitrile

2-Methoxy ethyl acrylate (MEA), a functional monomer was homopolymerized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique with methyl 2-bromopropionate (MBP) as initiator and CuBr/N,N,N′,N′,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as catalyst system; polymerization was conducted in bulk at 60 °C and livingness was established by chain extension reaction. The kinetics as well as molecular weight distribution data indicated towards the controlled nature of polymerization. The initiator efficiency and the effect of initiator concentration on the rate of polymerization were investigated. The polymerization remained well-controlled even at low catalyst concentration of 10% relative to initiator. The influence of different solvents, viz. ethylene carbonate and toluene on the polymerization was investigated. End-group analysis for the determination of high degree of functionality of PMEA was determined with the help of ¹³C{¹H} NMR spectra. Chain extension experiment was conducted with PMEA macroinitiator for ATRP of acrylonitrile (AN) in ethylene carbonate at 70 °C using CuCl/bpy as catalyst system. The composition of individual blocks in PMEA-b-PAN copolymers was determined using ¹H NMR spectra.     

Fullerene as radical inhibitor in polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by arsonium ylide

Kinetics of polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) in presence of fullerene (C₆₀) has been studied using p-acetyl benzylidine triphenyl arsonium ylide as initiator in dioxane at 60 ± 0.1°C under the blanket of nitrogen. The rate of polymerization (R _p ) at low concentration of fullerene may be represented as R _p ?? [Ylide]^0.5[AN]^1.0 [Full]^?0.6, indicating inhibition effect of fullerene on the polymerization. The energy of activation for the polymerization was found to be 71.5 ± 0.5 kJ mol^?1. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis (FTIR) confirmed the insertion of fullerene in to the final polymer. The mechanism for the polymerization has also been proposed.     

Homo and block copolymers of tert-butyl methacrylate by atom transfer radical polymerization

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of tert-butyl methacrylate (tBMA) was investigated using cuprous bromide with different ligands, solvents, deactivators, etc. The polymerization in bulk and diphenyl ether solvent system performed using Cu(I)Br complexed with N, N, N′, N″, N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) catalyst in conjunction with 2-bromopropionitrile as an initiator at room temperature showed a curvature in the first-order kinetic plot. The controlled polymerization in methanol solution resulted in slower rate of polymerization and lower molecular weights. Well-defined diblock copolymers of PSt-b-PtBMA synthesized by polystyrene bromo macroinitiator (PSt-Br) with Cu(I)Cl/PMDETA catalyst system yielded predetermined molecular weights and lower polydispersities. Otherwise, the Cu(I)Br/PMDETA catalytic system showed an inefficient polymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate with lower molecular weights and higher polydispersities. Subsequent hydrolysis of the homopolymer refluxed in dioxane with addition of HCl afforded well-defined poly(methacrylic acid).     

Influence of Catalyst Residues on Thermo-oxidative Aging and Thermal Stability of Poly（butene-1）

Isotactic poly（butene-1） （iPB） with spherical morphology was synthesized successfully with bulk precipitation polymerization without post-treatment of the products. The bulk precipitation polymerization process made it possible for iPB to be used as general plastic due to the acceptable decreased cost compared with the solution polymerization process. The influence of catalyst residues on the aging and thermal stability of iPB synthesized by bulk precipitation polymerization method was investigated by gel permeation chromatography, mechanical performance testing, thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopic analysis. Commercial iPB and the lab-made iPB with varied catalyst residue contents were studied. The results demonstrated that the catalyst residues played an important role in the aging process of the iPB. A possible mechanism of aging promotion by catalyst residues was proposed.     

Radical polymerization of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine in water: kinetics and salt effects

The homogeneous polymerization of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) as betaine monomer with potassium peroxydisulfate (KPS) was kinetically investigated in water by means of FT-near IR spectroscopy. The overall activation energy of the polymerization was estimated to be 12.8 kcal/mol. The initial polymerization rate (R_p) at 40 °C was given by R_p = k[KPS]^0.98[MPC]^1.9. The presence of alkaline metal halides accelerated the polymerization. The larger the radius of metal cation or halide ion was, the larger the accelerating effect was. The accelerating salt effect was explained by interactions of salt ions with ionic moieties of the propagating polymer radical and/or the MPC monomer. A kinetic study was also performed on the polymerization of MPC with KPS in water in the presence of NaCl of 2.5 mol/l. R_p at 40 °C was expressed by R_p = k[KPS]^0.6[MPC]^1.6. A very low value of 4.7 kcal/mol was obtained as the overall activation energy of the polymerization.     

Polymerization of vinyl monomers via MAO activated iron(II) dichloro complexes bearing bis(imino)pyridine-, quinolinaldimine- and thiophenaldimine-based tridentate nitrogen ligands

A series of iron(II) complexes (4a-d, 10, and 11) bearing 2,6-bis[(imino)ethyl]pyridine-(3a-d), quinolinaldimine-(8) and thiophenaldimine-(9) based ligands were disclosed as active complexes for the polymerization of tert-butylacrylate (t-BA). After activation with methyl aluminoxane (MAO), the complexes showed moderate to high polymerization activities and produced high molar mass polymers. In addition, the catalyst system 4d/MAO was examined for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and n-vinylcarbazole (NVC). The influence of MAO/Cat. molar ratio, polymerization time, and monomer concentration on the polymerization reaction of methyl methacrylate was explored.In the polymerization of tert-butylacrylate with 2,6-bis[(imino)ethyl]pyridine iron(II)-based catalysts, bulky terminal aliphatic substituents have a favorable influence on the polymerization activity compared to the aromatic ones. This catalyst system was also more active than the quinolinaldimine-, (10) and thiophenaldimine-, (11) based catalysts.     

Cationic polymerization of isobutylene with H2O/TiCl4 initiating system in the presence of electron pair donors

Cationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB) in a mixture of methylene dichloride (CH₂Cl₂) and n-hexane (n-Hex) was conducted by using H₂O as initiator, TiCl₄ as co-initiator in the presence of strong external electron pair donor (ED), such as pyridine (Py), dimethylacetamide (DMA) or triethylamine (TEA). The effects of ED concentration, TiCl₄ concentration, solvent polarity, polymerization temperature (T) and time on IB polymerization, molecular weight (MW) and molecular weight distribution (MWD, M_w/M_n) of polyisobutylene (PIB) products were investigated. The relative amount of polymer formed via uncontrolled initiation by conventional active species (I) decreased with increasing the solvent polarity, TiCl₄ concentration and ED concentration in the polymerization. The desirable polymerization of IB with apparent absence of chain transfer reactions could be obtained by H₂O/TiCl₄ initiating system in the presence of ED under the appropriate reaction conditions. The external electron pair donors and TiCl₄ did specially play important and effective roles on polymerization.     

Ring-opening polymerization by N-heterocyclic carbenes as catalysts: Characteristics and kinetics

In this work catalytic ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters in THF in the presence of benzyl alcohol is described. The polymerization is catalyzed by 1,3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)imidazolium carbene, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC). The ability of two different monomers, ?-caprolactone and L-lactide, to enter into the polymerization via ring-opening polymerization with NHCs as catalysts was evaluated. The plot of ln([M]₀/[M]_t) versus reaction time yielded a straight line indicating that the kinetics of polymerization of ?-caprolactone and L-lactide was first-order in monomer concentration. Moreover, a direct relation between the rate of ring-opening polymerization of ?-caprolactone and the catalyst concentration suggested a first-order dependence of the rate of polymerization on the catalyst concentration.     

Kinetic studies on the syndiotactic propylene polymerization catalyzed over iPr(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl2

Kinetic studies on the syndiospecific polymerizations of propylene with iPr(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl₂/methylaluminoxane (MAO) were performed at 20, 40 and 70 °C and at 5 atm with various Al/Zr molar ratios. The average polymerization activity for 60 min decreased, and the time to reach a maximum activity (t_max) decreased as Al/Zr molar ratio increased. However, at Al/Zr molar ratio of 10,000, catalytic activity decreased rapidly and became the smallest among any other Al/Zr molar ratios after 20 min of polymerization. At higher Al/Zr molar ratio, methylation and cationization progress rapidly, but its polymerization rate decayed quickly due to strong interaction between MAO and metallocene, resulting in less active species. Regardless of change in polymerization temperature, t_max was maintained around 15 min. Stereoregularity was strongly dependent on the polymerization temperature, and active site isomerization was dominant source for stereoirregularity, and it was strongly influenced by polymerization temperature.     

Non-ideal polymerization. Treatment of non-ideality due to primary radical termination and degradative chain transfer

A method is proposed for analysing the problems associated with non-ideal polymerizations reflected mainly in the variability of R_p/[I]^0·5[M] where R_p is the rate of polymerization and [I] and [M] are the initiator and monomer concentrations, respectively. Primary radical termination and degradative chain transfer are treated jointly and the entirely different mathematical natures of the two processes are described. The method could dispense with the need to use the uninhibited rate of polymerization which does not lend itself to reliable measurements for many systems. It is found to be efficient in detecting the active species in a polymerization system that leads to non-ideality due to degradative chain transfer.This method is applied to vinyl chloride polymerization data from the literature, the values of constants obtained therefrom are found to agree well with the existing values.     

Radiation-induced polymerization of 3-octylthiophene

In order to develop a new synthetic method and to study mechanism of oxidative polymerization of conducting polymers, polymerization of 3-octylthiophene in several organic solvents by γ-irradiation was examined. Polymers bimodal distribution with molecular weights at 500–1000 and 2000–3000 were generated by the irradiation of chloroform solutions. The values of monomer conversion (G(?M)) decreased from 445 to 10 with doses from 0.99 kGy to 594 kGy. The large G(?M) values and dose dependence of G(?M) cannot be explained with widely accepted mechanism for electrochemical polymerization or chemical oxidative polymerization. Another mechanism, which proceeds through chain reactions, is proposed. This mechanism explains the large G(?M) and the dependence on the dose.     

Study on controlled/living free-radical polymerization of methyl acrylate in the presence of benzyl 9H-carbazole-9-carbodithioate under thermal condition

The polymerizations of methyl acrylate have been studied under thermal condition using benzyl 9H-carbazole-9-carbodithioate (BCCDT) as control agent. The obtained polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and MALDI-TOF mass spectra. The results at 60 °C show that the molecular weight of the polymer increases linearly with monomer conversion, the molecular weight distribution is fairly narrow (even inferior to 1.10), and there exists a linear relationship between ln ([M]₀/[M]) and polymerization time. It is worthy of being noticed that the narrow polydispersities are comparable with those from living anionic polymerization. All of the evidences indicate that the polymerization is a good ‘living’ process. When the experiment is carried out at higher temperature, the polymerization rate is markedly faster with controlled polymerization characters except for a relatively broader polydispersity. The good control for free radical polymerization may be correlated with the large conjugation structure of carbazyl of BCCDT.     

Pseudo-living radical polymerization using triarylmethane as the thermal iniferter

Triphenylmethane (TPM) was used as the initiator-transfer-terminator agent (iniferter) for the pseudo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in cyclohexanone (CHO) for the first time. The pseudo-living radical polymerization of styrene is also investigated for comparison. The polymerizations both exhibit a linear increase of number molecular weight (M_n) with conversion and the obtained polymer can be utilized as a macroinitiator for the successful chain extension. Other factors such as polymerization temperature and the molar ratio of monomer-to-iniferter were investigated and the polymerization results also showed pseudo-living characteristics. Furthermore, other triarylmethanes with substituents, such as tris-(p-acetylphenyl) methane (TAcPM) and tris-(p-carboxyphenyl) methane (TCOPM), were also employed. The results further confirmed that the other compounds with similar structure can also be used as the iniferter.     

Radical polymerization behavior of 3-(N-2-methacryloyloxyethyl-N,N-dimethyl)ammonatopropanesulfonate in water

The homogeneous polymerization of 3-(N-2-methacryloyloxyethyl-N,N-dimethyl)ammonatopropanesulfonate (MDAPS) with potassium peroxydisulfate (KPS) was kinetically in situ investigated in water by means of FT-near IR spectroscopy. The overall activation energy of the polymerization was calculated to be 16.0 kcal/mol. The initial polymerization rate (R_p) at 40 °C was expressed by R_p=k[KPS]^0.65[MDAPS]^1.0. The presence of alkaline metal salts was observed to accelerate the polymerization. The order of acceleration at 40 °C was CsCl > KCl > NaCl > LiCl when the chloride salts were used. NaCl showed higher acceleration effect than NaF. NaBr and NaI exhibited retardation and inhibition effect, respectively, because of reduction of KPS and its primary radical with bromide and iodide ions. The polymerization of MDAPS with KPS in water in the presence of NaCl at 2.0 mol/l gave R_p=k[KPS]^0.70[MDAPS]^1.4 at 40 °C. The overall activation energy of the polymerization in the presence of NaCl was estimated to be 11.6 kcal/mol being considerably lower value compared with that in its absence. The syndiotacticity of poly(MDAPS) tended to increase with rising temperature and decrease in the presence of NaCl.     

Polymerization effects on molecular dynamics of n-ethylene glycol dimethacrylates followed by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy

A detailed dielectric characterization of n-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomers with n = 2 and 4 is provided. Besides the α relaxation associated to the glass transition, two secondary relaxation processes were detected: the γ process assigned to the twisting motions within the ethylene glycol moiety, and the β process related with hindered rotations of carboxylic groups. While the relaxation time of the γ process is independent of the size of the ethylene glycol group, the β process deviates to higher times with increasing n. Upon polymerization the α process goes to extinction, faster in the 4-ethylene monomer, with a concomitant depletion of the β process that remains at higher polymerization degrees relatively to the α process, thus acting as a more sensitive probe to evaluate conversion. The height decrease of α and β processes of monomers with the polymerization progress, occurs without significant changes of position. At intermediate states of polymerization, a new relaxation process evolves being only detectable in a narrow temperature range. In the end, the polymer networks show, in addition to the γ_pol relaxation identical to the γ relaxation of the monomer, a β_pol relaxation with similar features to the β relaxation found in poly n-alkyl methacrylates originated by a π flip of the ester unit accompanied by a restricted main chain rearrangement. The main dielectric relaxation corresponding to the swollen polymer network should appear at quite high temperatures already in early stages of the polymerization process because phase segregation occurs and only a limited amount of liquid monomer plasticizes the newly formed material.     

Rate constants of substantial initiation in free-radical polymerization: A new method for determination of conversion dependences

A new method for determination of the conversion dependence of substantial initiation rate constants k _i = f(C) in free-radical polymerization processes has been developed. On the basis of the known data on k _i1 = f(C) dependences for initiator I₁ and the kinetic analysis of a single trivial and simple experiment, this method allows one to calculate k _i2 = f(C) function for any other initiator I₂ under the same conditions (monomer, temperature). The reference experiment includes measurements of polymerization rates in the presence of initiator I₁ in a wide conversion range from 0 to 100% and in the presence of I₂, on the condition that the rates of initiation are equal w _i1 = w _i2, thus ensuring equal initial rates of polymerization. The above-described approach has been approved for the polymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and vinyl acetate initiated with AIBN and benzoyl peroxide.     

Synthesis of high molecular weight polyisobutylene via cationic polymerization at elevated temperatures

A novel simple but effective initiating system of H2O/AlCl3 /veratrole (VE) has been developed to synthesize high molecular weight polyisobutylene (PIB) at elevated temperatures via cationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB) in solvent mixture of hexane/methylene dichloride (n-Hex/CH2Cl2 = 2/1, V/V). VE played very important roles in decreasing cationicity of the growing chain ends, suppressing side reactions of chain transfer and termination during polymerization, leading to production of high molecular weight PIBs. PIBs with high yields, having very high weight-average molecular weight (Mw ) of 1117000 and 370000 g/mol could be synthesized with H2O/AlCl3 /VE initiating system at VE concentration of 5.4 mmol/L at 80 and 60℃ respectively. Molecular weight of PIB increased remarkably with increasing VE concentration. The reaction order with respect to VE concentration was determined to be 3.52 via FTIR spectroscopy in combination with a diamond tipped attenuated total reflectance (ATR) immersion probe. The negative reaction order of VE was consistent with its retarding effect on IB polymerization by interacting with the propagating species. Molecular weight of PIB decreased with increasing polymerization temperature. The activation energy for polymerization degree (EDP ) could be determined to be around 23 kJ/mol when VE concentration was 5.4 mmol/L or 6.4 mmol/L.     

Atom-transfer radical polymerization of poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomers in aqueous media

Soluble comb-shaped and swelling network polymers based on monomethacrylate (M = 2080) and bismethacrylate (M = 4000) poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomers, have been synthesized by the controlled atom-transfer radical polymerization in aqueous media. PEG 2000 methyl ether ethyl-2-bromoisobutyrate and 2-bromoisobutyrate, in combination with CuBr, CuBr₂, and 2,2′-bipyridyl, have been used as initiators. The length of the main chain of comb-shaped polymers, as estimated with multidetector chromatography, is in good agreement with the calculated values in the 15–20 range at M _w /M _n = 1.42–1.89. The polymerization of the methacrylate macromonomer proceeds at a high rate and with a nearly quantitative conversion. The replacement of 10–80 mol % CuBr with CuBr₂ appreciably decelerates polymerization and decreases polydispersity to 1.14–1.21, while the experimental and calculated values of chain lengths remain equal. This finding indicates a higher level of process control. The polymer networks thus prepared manifest Gaussian elastic behavior, as is evident from the relationship between the elastic modulus G and the swelling degree Q that is consistent with the classical prediction G ～ Q ^m , where m = ?1/3. Within the framework of the accepted model of networks of this type, this fact suggests the short length of polymethacrylate chains. In addition, the relationship between the time of attainment of the gelation point and the composition of the initiation system agrees with the atomtransfer controlled polymerization mechanism. The efficiencies of various radical polymerization methods for controlling the network structure are compared.     

Thermal polymerization of acrylamide in the solid state

The role of imperfections in thermal polymerization of acrylamide in the solid state was studied. The polymer yield and the degree of polymerization are highly dependent on the particle size and on the pressure to which the monomer is subjected prior to polymerization reaction. There is an enhancement in the rate of polymerization in air unlike in the case of radiation-induced polymerization. Thermal polymerization of acrylamide in pelletized form results in the formation of water-soluble linear polymer and water-insoluble cross-linked product with the evolution of ammonia. The activation energy (E) values obtained in the present investigation reveal that basically there are two processes taking place, one with E = 34–36 kcal/mole, corresponding to the initiation process, and the other with E = 19 ± 3 kcal/more for the propagation process.