Chemical modification of hydroxyl groups of poly(vinyl alcohol) by a glycosidation reaction

A new procedure for chemical modification of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was established by a glycosidation reaction of hydroxyl groups in PVA with triacetylated sugar oxazoline 1 . ¹H and ¹³C NMR analyses indicated that triacetylated N‐acetyl‐D‐glucosamine (GlcNAc) was introduced onto a PVA backbone selectively via a β‐O‐glycoside linkage. Deacetylation of triacetylated GlcNAc‐substituted PVA 2 resulted in GlcNAc‐substituted PVA 3 in good yield. These modified PVAs 2 and 3 exhibited solubilities and thermal properties different from the original PVA.     

Determination of vicinal hydroxyl groups in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)

An accurate procedure for the determination of 1,2-diol groups in styrene glycol and poly-(vinyl alcohol) has been demonstrated. The diols are cloven with periodate and the excess of this is determined by means of standard arsenite solution.     

Effect of the type of hydrogen bonding on the reactivity of hydroxyl groups in the acetalization of poly(vinyl alcohol) with butanal

The parameters of hydrogen bonds formed during acetalization of poly(vinyl alcohol) with butanal are determined via computer-simulation methods. It is shown that alcohol groups involved in the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds are the least active in acetalization reactions. The kinetics of the acetalization reactions in 2,4-pentanediol-water-butanal and (vinyl alcohol)-water-butanal systems are studied at various concentrations of alcohols that model a change in the ratio of hydrogen bonds of various types and are realized in the aqueous solutions of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl butyral). The calculated rate constants are in agreement with the computer-simulation-based order of reactivity of alcohol groups involved in hydrogen bonds of various types. It is proposed that the reactivity of residual alcohol groups in a poly(vinyl butyral) macromolecule should increase when a certain conversion of the polymer is attained.     

Preparation of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels with radiation grafted citric and succinic acid groups

Ternary mixtures of PVA/Citric acid (CA)/water and PVA/Succinic acid (SA)/water were gamma irradiated to various doses in air at ambient temperature. Gelation % vs dose curves were constructed and swelling behavior of gels with maximum conversions was studied. In maximum gelled systems 80% of CA used in the feed composition was retained in the gel structure whereas this was only 20% for SA. The volume of swelling of ionic PVA gels increased from 230% to 530% for PVA/CA systems when pH was increased from 2.6 to 7.5. Less significant increase in swelling was observed for PVA/SA gels, from 250% to 330% in the same pH interval. The incorporation of SA and CA groups onto PVA networks improved remarkably the affinity of these structures for Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ion uptake.     

Study on ketalization reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) by ketones. IX. Kinetic study on acetalization and ketalization reaction of 1,3-butanediol as a model compound for poly(vinyl alcohol)

A kinetic study was carried out on the acetalization reaction of 1,3-butanediol, as a model compound for poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), in water, under acidic conditions. Since these equilibrium constants of ketalization reaction of 1,3-butanediol and ethylene glycol are so small, the kinetic parameters were estimated from the hydrolysis reactions of the corresponding ketals. It was made clear that these reactions proceed in the reversible bimolecular reaction, and the heat of reaction and activation energy are nearly equal to that of PVA. The rate constants of hydrolysis reaction (k′s) of model compounds were calculated on the basis of value of acetone ketal, Hammett-Taft's equation log k′s/k′so – 0.54(n – 6) = ρ^*σ^* was established, and the value of ρ^* was obtained (3.60), which coincided with the value of PVA. Therefore, it was made clear that the hydrolysis reactions of acetals and ketals are electrophilic reaction (SE II reaction) and the step of rate determination is the formation of hemiacetal and hemiketal. The rate constants of hydrolysis reaction of 1,3-butanediol acetals and ketals were approximately 10–20 larger, and those of ethylene glycol were approximetly 50–80 larger except for ketals, and those of ethanol were roughly 2000–10,000 larger compared with that of high-molecular weight compound (PVA). It can be well explained that these differences in the rate constant depend on their entropy and the mobility of molecules. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 1719–1931, 1997     

Study on ketalization reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) by ketones. VIII. kinetic study on acetalization and ketalization reactions of poly(vinyl alcohol)

The kninetics of acid-catalyzed acetalization and ketalization of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were systematically studied in completely homogeneous media with carefully selected solvents. Thus the acetalization reaction was run in water with six aldehydes [R₁CHO (R₁ = H, CH₃, C₂H₅, n-C₃H₇, i-C₃H₇, ClCH₂)], whereas the ketalization in dimethylslfoxide with 11 ketones [R₂CH₃CO (R₂ = CH₃, C₂H₅, n-C₃H₇, i-C₃H₇, n-C₄H₉, i-C₄H₉, tert-C₄H₉, C₆H₅CH₂, C₆H₅CH₂CH₂), cyclopentanone, and cyclohexanone]. The latter was difficult to proceed in aqueous media. Both reactions were reversible and bimolecular and, despite the use of different solvents, gave similar heats of reaction (7.5 kcal/mol) and activation energies (ca. 15 kcal/mol) except for the case of formaldehyde and chloroacetaldehyde; however the equilibrium constants at 25°C showed that the acetalization is thermodynamically much more favored than the ketalization (ca. 5000 vs. 0.01–0.9), probably because of steric hindrance of the ketone substrate. The rate constants of hydrolysis (reverse reactions) for the poly(vinyl acetal) and poly(vinyl ketal) followed the Hammett-Taft equation to give a single p* (=3.60) that is very close to that for the hydrolysis of diethyl acetal and ketal. From these and other data, it was concluded that the polymer hydrolysis, as well as PVA acetalization and ketalization, are all electrophilic reaction where the formation of hemiacetal or hemiketal is the rate-determining step. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) with formaldehyde and polymer stereoregularity. Model compounds

The reaction of stereoisomers of pentane-2, 4-diol and heptane-2, 4, 6-triol with formaldehyde was investigated as a model for the formalization reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) in order to determine effect of the stereochemical configuration of the polyol molecules on the reaction. The isotactic (meso) diol portion reacted with formaldehyde to give cis-formal several times faster than did the syndiotactic (dl) diol portion to give trans-formal at 30–80°C. In the reaction of heterotactic (meso-dl) triol which provides both the isotactic and syndiotactic diol portions in a molecule, the proportion of trans-formal in the total formal decreased as the reaction proceeded. This shows that the formation of cis-formal is also favored thermodynamically to a greater extent, and hence the intramolecular migration of trans-formal to cis-formal did occur during the reaction. The rates of hydrolysis of formals of the diols were compared with those of the triols in order to see the effect of a hydroxyl group adjacent to the formal ring on the reaction. No appreciable rate difference was observed between the dimer and trimer models both in cis- and trans- formals. Therefore it was deduced from these results that the increase of the rate of hydrolysis of poly(vinyl formal) with the increase of hydroxyl groups along the polymer chain is a characteristic of macromolecules that is not observed in the low molecular weight models.     

Modification of poly(vinyl alcohol) through reaction with phosphorus-containing reactants

Crosslinked products of the form: and have been formed from the interfacial condensation of phosphorus diacid halides with poly(vinyl alcohol). Product yield and amounts of phosphorus reactant included in the product increases as the amount of base increases. Product stability in aqueous systems decreases in the order neutral > base > acid.     

Short branching in poly(vinyl alcohol). III. Some properties of model polymers of short-branched poly(vinyl alcohol)

Melting point, the iodine color reaction, and foam fractionation were studied on model poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) having short branches of one or two monomer units in length. An increase in the amount of short branching units caused a marked decrease in color intensity of the PVA–iodine reaction and in the melting point. These tendencies were more remarkable when the short branching was two monomer units in length than when it was one monomer unit. It was also found that foam fractionation of an aqueous PVA solution produced PVA fractions with different degree of short branching, the degree increasing with increase in the fraction number. The color intensity of the PVA–iodine reaction has been confirmed to decrease with increase in the fraction number, but this result cannot be explained solely in terms of the short branching. It is concluded that the phenomenon of foam fractionation of PVA and the iodine color reaction of the fraction appear to be governed by many factors such as molecular weight, stereoregularity, and short branching.     

Short branching in poly(vinyl alcohol). II. NMR spectroscopy of model polymers of short-branched poly(vinyl alcohol)

In order to develop a method of measuring the amounts of short branches in PVA, an NMR study was made of a model poly(vinyl alcohol) having short branches, one or two monomer units in length. Detection and estimation of the short branches were shown to be possible by using the ¹³C-NMR spectra of PVA and the ¹H-NMR of acetylated PVA. In the ¹⁹F-NMR spectra of trifluoroacetylated model PVA, the resonance peaks of primary and tertiary alcohols in the branching structure were not well resolved from that of secondary alcohol of the main chain.     

Long branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol). II. Polymerization of vinyl acetate in the presence of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)

It is a common view that poly(vinyl acetate) has many branches at the acetyl side group, but that the corresponding poly(vinyl alcohol) has little branching. In order to study the branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol) which is formed by chain transfer to polymer, the polymerization of ¹⁴C-labeled vinyl acetate in the presence of crosslinked poly(vinyl acetate), which was able to be decrosslinked to give soluble polymers, was investigated at 60°C and 0°C. This system made it possible to separate as well as to distinguish the graft polymer from the newly polymerized homopolymer. Furthermore, the degree of grafting onto the acetoxymethyl group and onto the main chain were estimated. It became clear that, in the polymerization of vinyl acetate, chain transfer to the polymer main chain takes place about 2.4 times as frequently at 60°C as that to the acetoxy group and about 4.8 times as frequently at 0°C.     

Study of the miscibility of poly(vinyl pyridines) with poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl alcohol) and their copolymers

Miscibility of poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) and poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (P2VP) with poly(viny acetate) (PVAc), poly(vinyl alcohol) PVA and poly(vinyl acetate-co-alcohol) (ACA copolymers) has been investigated over a wide composition range. Differentiaal scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicate that P2VP is immiscible with PVAC, PVA, and their copolymers over the whole composition range. In turn, P4VP appears to be immiscible with PVAC and PVA, but miscible with some ACA copolymers in certain range of composition. The P4VP-ACA phase diagram for different copolymer compositions has been determined. The variation of the glass transition temperature with composition for miscible mixtures was found to follow the Gordon-Taylor equation, with the parameter κ dependent upon copolymer composition. FTIR analysis of blends reveal the existence of specific interactions via hydrogen bonding between hydroxyl groups and the nitrogen of the pyridinic ring, which appear to be decisive for miscibility. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effect of poly(ethylene oxide) on the structure and properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)

To improve the drawability of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) thermal products, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), a special resin with good flexibility, excellent lubricity, and compatibility with many resins, was applied, and the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WXRD) were adopted to study the hydrogen bonds, water states, thermal properties, crystal structure, and nonisothermal crystallization of modified PVA. It was found that PEO formed strong hydrogen bonds with water and PVA, thus weakened the intra‐ and inter‐hydrogen bonds of PVA, changed the aggregation states of PVA chains, and decreased its melting point and crystallinity. Moreover, the interactions among PVA, water, and PEO retarded the water evaporation and made more water remain in the system to plasticize PVA. The existence of PEO also slowed down the melt crystallization process of PVA, however, increased the nucleation points of system, thus made more and smaller spherulites formed. The weakened crystallization capability of PVA and the lubrication of PEO made PVA chains to have more mobility under the outside force and obtain high mechanical properties. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1946–1954, 2010     

Photosensitive poly(vinyl alcohol) bearing N-(1-pyridinio)benzamidate groups

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) bearing N-(1-pyridinio)benzamidate (PB) was synthesized through acetalization of PVA and 4-dimethoxymethyl-N-(1-pyridinio)benzamidate (DMPB) in water. The PB groups in PVA–PB had almost the same proportion of DMPB to the starting PVA. The UV spectrum of PVA–PB shows an absorption band of pyridinium ylide as a shoulder around 300 nm in water, and as a maximum at 315 nm in a film on a quartz plate. These absorption bands decreased on irradiation at 313 nm. The photoreaction of the PVA–PB film proceeds much faster than that of PVA–PB in water. The solution, of PVA-bearing high-PB content, became slightly turbid during irradiation. After irradiation the film became insoluble in water, and the soluble fraction of polymer (P? = 1700) was 3% at a PB content of 1 mol% and less than 1% at that of more than 2 mol%. This polymer can be applied as a water-soluble negative photoresist.     

Radiation effects on the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(vinyl alcohol)

Radiation effects on the formation of conjugated double bonds in the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were investigated. Thin films of PVC and PVA were either irradiated with γ-rays at ambient temperature (pre-irradiation) and then subjected to thermal treatment, or irradiated at elevated temperatures (in situ irradiation). An extensive enhancement of the thermal degradation was observed for the pre-irradiation of the PVC films, which was more effective than the effect of the in situ irradiation at the same absorption dose. For the PVA degradation, however, the effect of the in situ irradiation was larger than that of the pre-irradiation. The results were explained and related mechanisms were discussed based on radiation-induced chemical reactions and their individual contributions to the thermal degradation behaviors of the two polymers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 3089–3095, 1998