New strategies for synthesis of partially fluorinated heterocycles as precursors for trifluoromethyl-substituted polymers

The building-block strategy is applied to the synthesis of new compounds with two five-membered heteroaromatic units. The heteroaromatic rings contain a fluorine atom which is activated towards nucleophilic displacement reactions by an adjacent trifluoromethyl group. The difunctional compounds can be converted into poly(arylene ether)s by base-catalyzed polycondensation with bisphenols or bisthiophenols. Trifluoromethylated poly(arylether oxazole)s and poly(arylthioether oxazole)s are obtained by this route. All representatives of these two new classes of polymers are soluble in common organic solvents. Reaction conditions for the polycondensation as well as thermal stability, glass transition temperatures, and molar masses of the polymers are described.     

Correlating natural ageing and Xenon irradiation of Paraloid B72 applied on stone

The ageing of Paraloid^® B72, an acrylic copolymer extensively used in conservation of works of art, has been investigated either under artificial irradiation (Xenon lamp) or in natural environment (external exposure) with the aim to correlate the results of the accelerate test with the real situation. For a better understanding of the involved mechanisms some acrylic homo-polymers were also subjected to the artificial ageing test. Molecular changes induced by ageing were followed by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC), while the efficiency of the treatment was checked by water capillary absorption test and colour determinations. The results obtained indicate that it is possible to discriminate, easily and within reasonable laboratory time experiment, between polymers that can be used in Conservation, and the macromolecules that should not be employed due to short efficacy life-times.     

Evaluation of polymers for conservation treatments of outdoor exposed stone monuments. Part I: Photo-oxidative weathering

The commercial acrylic polymers, Paraloid B72 and Paraloid B67, and a silicon-based product, Dri-Film 104, commonly used as water repellents/consolidants in the restoration of stone artefacts, have been tested to evaluate their performances when submitted to ageing, simulating the outdoor conditions of treated stone. After full characterization, the three polymers were applied as thin films on slides, as thick film on petri dishes and on marble by brush or by imbibition and the resulting samples were submitted to photo-oxidative weathering (λ = 340 nm). The weathering evolution was checked by ultrasonic and colorimetric measurements and by FT-IR, NMR and SEC determinations. Removability tests were also performed. All the polymers underwent irreversible modifications with reduction of their conservative properties, colour change and, above all, impossibility of their complete removal.     

Evaluation of polymers for conservation treatments of outdoor exposed stone monuments. Part II: Photo-oxidative and salt-induced weathering of acrylic-silicone mixtures

The behaviour of the acrylic-silicone mixture commonly known as Bologna Cocktail, composed of commercial acrylic polymer Paraloid B72 and the silicon-based product, Dri Film 104, extensively employed as stone preservative for monuments in the last thirty years, has been tested on specimens appropriately prepared and submitted to ageing simulating reliable outdoor environment. After chemical characterization, the acrylic-silicone mixture was applied as thin film on slides, as thick film on Petri dishes and on marble by brush or by absorption; the resulting samples were artificially aged by light and saline solution. The chemical modifications were evaluated by FT-IR, NMR and SEC determinations, while preservative properties were tested by removability tests, ultrasonic and colorimetric measurements. The mixture consists of two immiscible phases and the two components have distinctive chemical behaviours, leading - after ageing - to irreversible molecular modifications and loss of conservative properties. The deterioration processes identified through laboratory simulation have been also verified on treated marble surfaces of two Venetian case studies.     

Investigation on the thermal degradation of acrylic polymers with fluorinated side-chains

The thermal degradation of poly-2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5,5′,6,6′,7,7′,7″-tridecafluoroheptylacrylate and poly-2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5,5′,6,6′,7,7′-dodecafluoroheptylmethacrylate has been studied in isothermal conditions at 450-750 °C using pyrolysis-gas chromatography. The type and composition of the pyrolysis products give useful information about mechanism of thermal degradation. It was shown that the main thermal degradation process for both polymers is random main-chain scission. The major degradation products for fluorinated polyacrylate are monomer, dimer, saturated diester, trimer, and corresponding methacrylate. The fluorinated polymethacrylate gives monomer as the main product of thermal destruction. As a result of side-chain reaction, the thermal degradation of the fluorinated polyacrylate also produces remarkable amounts of alcohol. On the other hand, the respective alcohol is only a minor component among the pyrolysis products of the fluorinated polymethacrylate. For both polymers, the main nontrivial degradation product coming from the alkyl ester decomposition is the corresponding fluorinated cyclohexane. The formation of the fluorinated cyclohexanes may be accounted for a nucleophilic bimolecular substitution pathway.     

Complexation of an acrylic resin by tertiary amines: synthesis and characterisation of new binders for antifouling paints

Antifouling coatings are the most reliable way to prevent biofouling of immersed surfaces. As concerning the high toxicity of organotin paints, the tendency is the development of coatings, which do not present environmental risks. In this work, we prepare binders from modification of acrylic copolymers containing free carboxylic acid groups. Biocides chosen are tertiary ammonium salts; alkyl chain substituents with different length are considered. The chemical modifications of resins are carried out via a single step reaction. Modification extents are monitored through proton nuclear magnetic resonance and thermogravimetric analysis and the modified resins are characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The glass transition temperature of the acrylate systems is assessed by dynamical mechanical analysis (pin point method) and compared with data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. The erosion and antifouling properties of the binders are followed during an exposure to marine environment by a visual observation.     

Microreactors for the synthesis of fluorinated materials

The utility of microreactor for the synthesis of α-fluoro-α,β-unsaturated esters, trifluoromethylation and Michael addition reaction, is described.     

A comparative study of the potential of acrylic and sol-gel polymers for molecular imprinting

The successful molecular imprinting of 2-aminopyridine (2-apy) in bulk polymerisations of acrylic and sol-gel based polymers has been achieved. Both polymeric systems reveal varying degrees of affinity in rebinding the original template as well as a number of structural analogues. Rebinding was conducted in chloroform, acetonitrile and methanol in order to assess the role of hydrogen bonding in imprinting. The acrylic imprinted polymer retained approximately 50% of the template in rebinding studies in chloroform compared to 100% for the sol-gel. However, this higher affinity for the sol-gel was accompanied by a higher degree of non-specific binding. While the acrylic polymer performed poorly in acetonitrile, the sol-gel maintained a high degree of discrimination.The acrylic polymer exhibited little discrimination between imprinted and reference polymers for 3-aminopyridine (3-apy) indicating the high selectivity of the MIP polymer for 2-apy relative to 3-apy. This selectivity was reduced in acetonitrile. Selectivity of the sol-gel for 2-apy in chloroform was poor as 3-apy was retained to a similar degree. Comparable results were obtained in acetonitrile. 4-Aminopyridine (4-apy) bound strongly to all polymers in all solvents and proved very difficult to remove due to the high degree of non-specific binding for both polymeric matrices.     

β-Nitro acrylic esters as precursors for the one pot synthesis of polyfunctionalized α,β-unsaturated esters

Conjugate addition of activated methylene derivatives to β-nitro acrylic esters in acetonitrile with DBU (2 equiv) as base, allows the one pot formation of polyfunctionalized α,β-unsaturated esters. The procedure is based on a tandem ‘Michael addition-elimination’ process favoured by the simultaneous behaviour of the nitro group as both an electron-withdrawing and leaving group.     

Radiation synthesis of chitosan beads grafted with acrylic acid for metal ions sorption

Radiation-induced grafting of acrylic acid onto chitosan beads was performed in solution at a dose rate of 20.6 Gy/min of cobalt-60 gamma rays. The effect of absorbed dose on grafting yield was investigated. The characterization of the grafted material was performed by FTIR spectroscopy and the swelling measurements at different pHs. The grafting yield increased with the increase in dose, it reached 80% at 40 kGy irradiation dose.The removal of Pb and Cd ions from aqueous solutions was investigated with both ungrafted and grafted chitosan beads. The sorption behavior of the sorbents was examined through pH, kinetics and equilibrium measurements. Grafted chitosan beads presented higher sorption capacity for both metal ions than unmodified chitosan beads.     

Synthesis of fluorinated hyperbranched polymers capable as highly hydrophobic and oleophobic coating materials

A series of coating materials were prepared from two classes of hyperbranched polymers containing short fluorocarbon chains (HPEFs/HPUFs). The obtained hyperbranched polymers were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, GPC and TG analyses. HPEFs/HPUFs exhibited very low surface free energies (13.67-24.49 mJ/m²) which almost are independent of their internal backbone but dependent on the terminal fluorocarbon chains. Highly hydrophobic and/or oleophobic surfaces of cotton woven fabric can be achieved from these polymers by solution-immersion coating method. The static and dynamic wettabilities of the HPEFs/HPUFs treated fabrics have been investigated. The static contact angles reached to 146°, 122° and 102° for water, hexadecane and decane, respectively. The lowest contact angle hysteresis reached to 5.9°.     

New fluorinated polymers bearing pendant phosphonic groups for fuel cell membranes: Part 1 synthesis and characterizations of the fluorinated polymeric backbone

Radical copolymerizations of chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) with vinyl ethers such as 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether (CEVE) and ethyl vinyl ether (EVE) were performed at 75 °C in the presence of peroxide initiator. Three copolymers were obtained and characterized by means of both NMR and elemental analysis. Then, the chlorine atoms in the side chains were converted into iodine atoms by nucleophilic substitution, which was monitored by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. A series of five copolymers with different amounts of iodine atoms in the side chains were thus obtained. These copolymers exhibited molecular weight values of about 25,000 g mol⁻¹, and the thermal analysis of the copolymers showed a starting degradation from about 220 °C. The T_g values were in the range of 34-41 °C and showed a linear dependence versus the content of iodine atoms.     

Synthesis of pentafluorophenyl(meth)acrylate polymers: New precursor polymers for the synthesis of multifunctional materials

Pentafluorophenyl acrylate and -methacrylate were polymerized using AIBN as a thermal initiator. The obtained polymers were soluble polymeric active esters that could be used for the preparation of multifunctional polymers. The reactivity of poly(pentafluorophenylacrylate) and poly(pentafluorophenylmethacrylate) towards primary and secondary amines, as well as alcohols was investigated in a quantitative way. Both poly(active esters) reacted satisfactorily with aliphatic primary and secondary amines but only low conversion was found in the case of aromatic amines. Conversions of only 30% were reached when poly(pentafluorophenylacrylate) was treated with one equivalent of alcohol under base catalysis. In time resolved FT-IR studies the rate constants of the polymer analogous reactions were determined.     

New reactive polymeric systems for use as waveguide materials in integrated optics

Cross-linked polymeric materials are used in a wide range of applications. Special compositions are used in micro-system technologies and its utilization is extending to integrated optics. We have been working for several years in the field of polymers for optical applications. Highly fluorinated polycyanurate systems have been proven as promising waveguide materials in integrated optics. The refractive index can be adjusted reproducibly in a wide range almost continuously. The layer quality was optimized. Low optical losses of less than 0.3 dB/cm@1550nm were obtained and working optical prototypes were developed. The birefringence had been a major problem, but this was solved by adjusting the coefficient of thermal expansion of substrate and film. We will report in this paper on the polycyanurate ester resins and the new triazine containing polymeric systems.     

Functional twin monomers and twin macro monomers as components for the synthesis of hierarchically nanostructured hybrid materials*

Internal polymeric soft templates are used for the polymerization of twin monomers (TM) to achieve nanostructured hybrid materials of desired morphology. For this purpose, oligomeric groups such as oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) or polymerizable ethenyl‐substituents were covalently linked to the silicon atom of TMs of the 4H‐benzo‐1,3,2‐dioxasiline type. These functionalized TMs are used in simultaneous twin polymerization in combination with the ideal TM 2,2'‐spirobi[4H‐1,3,2‐benzodioxasiline]. Nanostructure dimension can be adjusted in the range from 2 to 20 nm by the composition of the components used in hybrid material synthesis. Inorganic/organic hybrid material disks of interpenetrating networks with hierarchical nanostructures are available by polymerization in the melt which are potentially suitable as membrane devices. Physical properties such as brittleness, transparency, electrolytic stability, and barrier properties of the hybrid material could potentially be adjusted by changing both monomer composition and monomer structure. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2312–2320     

Synthesis of bi- and tetracatenar highly fluorinated compounds for grafting on silicone materials

A series of highly fluorinated compounds bearing two or four perfluoroalkyl (R_F) chains, with a flexible or rigid core have been synthesized. Radical additions, nucleophilic addition or condensation reactions were implemented for these synthesis, using perfluoroalkylated iodides and alcohols and various type of substrates: bis(allylic) derivatives, epichlorhydrin, diacid derivatives. All compounds contain an unsaturated moiety (vinyl, allyl or internal double bond) to be grafted on silicone materials by a catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction.     

New strategy for the stereoselective synthesis of fluorinated beta-amino acids

Racemic and chiral nonracemic alpha-substituted and alpha-unsubstituted beta-fluoroalkyl beta-amino acid derivatives 6 and 9 have been synthesized in two steps starting from fluorinated imidoyl chlorides 1 and ester enolates. This approach is based on the chemical reduction of previously obtained gamma-fluorinated beta-enamino esters 4 by using ZnI(2)/NaBH(4) in a nonchelated aprotic medium (dry CH(2)Cl(2)) as the reducing agent. A metal-chelated six-membered model has been suggested to explain the stereochemical outcome of the reduction reaction. The process takes place with high yields and with moderate to good diastereoselectivity. The best results related to diastereoselective reduction of chiral beta-enamino esters 4 were provided by the use of (-)-8-phenylmenthol as a chiral auxiliary.     

New fluorinated acrylic monomers for the surface modification of UV‐curable systems

New fluorinated acrylates were synthesized and used as modifying additives for acrylic UV‐curable systems. Their chemical structure is: C_nF_2n+1 R—OCO—CHCH₂, where the linear perfluorinated chain contains from 4 to 10 carbon atoms, while R is a linear alkyl group containing or not a thioether group. Notwithstanding their very low concentration, the fluorinated monomers caused a dramatic change of the surface properties of the films, without changing their curing conditions and their bulk properties. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed that the monomers were able to concentrate selectively on the surfaces of the films, depending on their chemical structure and on the kind of substrate employed. The synthesis of the fluorinated monomers and the relationship between their chemical structure and the final surface properties of the UV‐cured films will be discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 77–87, 1999     

A new strategy for the synthesis of highly functionalised fluorinated compounds by reaction of lithium dianions of carboxylic acids with perfluoroketene dithioacetals

The reaction of perfluoroketene dithioacetal with lithium dienediolates of carboxylic acids proceeds at the ω position probably through an addition to the π system followed by elimination of the vinylic fluoride. The preparative value of this reaction depends strongly on the reaction and work-up conditions. The overall process lead to highly functionalised synthons containing a trifluoromethyl group.     

Study of the polymerization of acrylic resins by photocalorimetry: interactions between UV initiators and absorbers

Photocurable finishes should be extensively used for industrial wood joinery in the near future even if some technical problems have still to be solved and if the durability of the finishing system has to be enhanced. In a previous work, we studied the curing reaction of acrylic resins containing some particular photoinitiators by photocalorimetry and showed that curing can be achieved under daylight with these compounds (i.e. solving the problem of restoration on site). The aim of this work is to enhance the durability of these systems by incorporating UV absorbers into the formulations. The consequences of such an addition onto the curing kinetics are again investigated by photocalorimetry.