Macrocycles 11. Polycondensations of aliphatic dicarboxylic acid dichlorides with catechol or bis-trimethylsilyl catechol

When O,O′-Bistrimethylsilyl catechol (BTSC) was polycondensed with adipoyl chloride in o-dichlorobenzene the 10-membered cyclic monomer was the main reaction product regardless of the concentration. Even the polycondensation in bulk yielded the macrocyclic monomer as the main product. Polycondensations of free catechol yielded similar results. Polycondensations of catechol or BTSC with suberoyl chloride, sebacoyl chloride, and decane-1,10-dicarbonyl chloride in concentrated solutions or in bulk yielded cyclic oligoesters as the main reaction products whereas linear oligoesters or polyesters were a minority. Polycondensations of BTSC with the longer diacid dichlorides in refluxing o-dichlorobenzene under high dilution yielded the 12–14-membered cyclic monomers as the main products. The molecular weights and the cyclic structure of all reaction products were characterized by mass spectrometery, fast-atom bombardment (FAB) or MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3861–3870, 1999     

Mechanism of dispersion polymerization of L-lactide initiated with 2,2-dibutyl-2-stanna-1,3-dioxepane

 Biodegradable polyester microspheres were synthesized directly by ring-opening polymerization of l-lactide initiated with 2,2-dibutyl-2-stanna-1,3-dioxepane. The polymerizations were carried out at 95 °C in a mixture of organic solvents (heptane/1,4–dioxane 4:1 v:v), in the presence of poly(dodecyl acrylate)-g-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) used as a surface-active agent. Under these conditions the poly(L-lactide) synthesized was shaped into microspheres. The absence of new particles in the polymerizations with multistep monomer addition indicated that after the formation of particle seeds the propagation proceeds exclusively inside the microspheres. The mean volume of these microspheres was proportional to the monomer conversion. It was found that regardless of the initiator concentration the average number of poly(L-lactide) macromolecules in one microsphere was 1.84 × 10⁸. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight spectroscopy of poly(L-lactide) in the microspheres indicated that the propagation in the particles was accompanied by intra- and intermolecular transesterification side reactions, resulting in reshuffling of the polymer segments and the formation of cyclic oligomers. Received: 20 December 2000 Accepted: 7 June 2001     

Lipase-catalyzed polycondensation of dicarboxylic acid–divinyl esters and glycols to aliphatic polyesters

Lipase-catalyzed polymerization of dicarboxylic acid–divinyl esters with glycols has been performed. The vinyl esters used were divinyl adipate and divinyl sebacate. Lipases derived from Candida antarctica, Mucor miehei, Pseudomonas cepacia, and P. fluorescens showed high catalytic activity toward the present polymerization. Effects of solvent, reaction temperature, and enzyme amount were systematically investigated. A combination of divinyl adipate, 1,4-butanediol, and P. cepacia lipase afforded the highest molecular weight (2.1 × 10⁴). The yield of the polymer from divinyl sebacate was higher than that from divinyl adipate, whereas the opposite tendency was observed in the polymer molecular weight. Methylene chain length of α,ω-alkylene glycol also affected the polymerization behavior. The enzymatic polymerization of divinyl sebacate with cis-2-butene-1,4-diol and 2-butyne-1,4-diol resulted in the polymer containing unsaturated group in the polymer backbone. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 2737–2745, 1999     

Cyclization and dispersity of poly(alkylene isophthalate)s

Poly(alkylene isophthalate)s were prepared by different methods, either in solution or in bulk. The SEC measurements were evaluated in such a way that all oligomers were included. In solution (monomer conc. 0.1–0.7 mol/L) large fractions of rings were formed and high dispersities (up to 12) were obtained, which disagree with theoretical predictions. Polycondensations in bulk did neither generate cyclics by “back‐biting” nor by end‐to‐end cyclization, when the maximum temperature was limited to 210 °C. The dispersities of these perfectly linear polyesters were again higher than the theoretical values. Regardless of the synthetic method monomeric cycles were never observed. Furthermore, SEC measurements performed in tetrahydrofuran and in chloroform and SEC measurements performed in three different institutes were compared. Finally, SEC measurements of five samples were performed with universal calibration and a correction factor of 0.71 ± 0.02 was found for normal calibration with polystyrene. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 197–208     

Morphology of poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) crystal prepared by direct polycondensation of p‐hydroxybenzoic acid with p‐toluenesulfonyl chloride in pyridine

Poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) (POB) crystals were prepared with the reaction‐induced crystallization of oligomers during the direct polycondensation of p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) with p‐toluenesulfonyl chloride (TsCl) and N,N‐dimethylformamide in pyridine. Sheaflike lozenge‐shaped POB crystals were obtained, of which the longer diagonal was 7.0–8.0 μm. The influence of the polymerization condition on the morphology was examined to optimize the preparative condition for the crystals exhibiting the clearest habit, and the favorable condition was determined as the molar ratio of TsCl to HBA of 1.3 and polymerization concentration of 3.0%. The crystals possessed extremely high crystallinity and outstanding thermal stability. The formation mechanism of the crystal was proposed as follows. When the number‐average degree of polymerization of the oligomers exceeded a critical value of about 4, they were precipitated to form the hexagonal lamellae. The crystals were grown very quickly to lozenge‐shaped crystal through screw dislocation with the continuous precipitation of oligomers from the solution. Finally, the further polymerization occurred in the precipitated crystal with developing polymer‐chain packing. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3275–3282, 2003     

Selective preparation of poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) by using fractional polycondensation

Selective preparation of poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) (POB) in the copolymerization system of p‐acetoxybenzoic acid (p‐ABA) and m‐acetoxybenzoic acid (m‐ABA) was examined by using reaction‐induced crystallization of oligomers. Polymer crystals mainly composed of p‐oxybenzoyl moiety were precipitated when the content of m‐ABA in the feed was 30 mol %. The formation of the polymer crystals was attributed to both the reactivity of monomer and the phase‐separation behavior of oligomer. Reactivity of p‐ABA was twice higher than that of m‐ABA, and thereby, the homo‐oligomers of p‐oxybenzoyl moiety were more rapidly formed in solution than do co‐oligomers at the early stage in polymerization. They were selectively precipitated by crystallization to form crystals because of low miscibility. Co‐oligomers containing m‐oxybenzoyl moiety were also formed in solution, but they were unable to be phase‐separated because of higher miscibility. Further polycondensation occurred between oligomers in the precipitated crystals, leading to the formation of POB. This polymerization proceeded with selecting certain monomers by crystallization and afforded a new methodology for fractional polycondensation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2732–2743, 2006     

Poly(ester urethane)s derived from lactide,isosorbide, terephthalic acid,and various diisocyanates

Isosorbide‐initiated oligomerizations of l ‐lactide were preformed in bulk using SnCl₂ as catalyst. The resulting telechelic OH‐terminated oligoesters were in situ subjected to simultaneous polycondensation and polyaddition with mixtures of terephthaloyl chloride and diisocyanates. Most polymerizations were conducted with 4,4′‐diisocyanatodiphenyl methane and 2,4‐diisocyanato toluene. The consequences of excess diisocyanate and four different catalysts were studied. The isosorbide/lactide ratio and the terephthalic acid/diisocyanate ratio were varied. Number average molecular weights up to 15 kDa with polydispersities around 3–5 were obtained. Depending on the chemical structure of the copolyester and on the feed ratio, incorporation of urethane groups may reduce or enhance the glass‐transition temperature, but the thermal stability decreases dramatically regardless of composition. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 867–875     

Chain extension of adipic acid and (or) succinic acid/butanediol polyesters with 2,2′‐(1,4‐phenylene)‐bis(2‐oxazoline) and adipoylbiscaprolactamate combined chain extenders

This paper provided an easy and flexible method to synthesize high molecular weight polyesters by polycondensation and chain extension. Low molecular weight polybutylene adipate, polybutylene succinate, and poly(butylene succinate‐co‐butylene adipate) (PBSA) were synthesized through melt condensation polymerization from adipic acid and/or succinic acid with butanediol. The prepolyesters obtained had different amount of ? COOH and ? OH terminal groups. Chain extension of them was carried out at 180–240°C using 2,2′‐(1,4‐phenylene)‐bis(2‐oxazoline) and adipoyl biscaprolactamate as combined chain extenders. The influencing factors of the chain extension were studied. At the optimal conditions, chain‐extended polybutylene adipate with M_n up to 39,100, polybutylene succinate with intrinsic viscosity of 0.99 dl/g, and PBSA with intrinsic viscosity from 0.73 to 0.81 dl/g were synthesized. The chain‐extended polyesters were characterized by IR spectrum, ¹H NMR spectrum, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), wide angle X‐ray scattering, and tensile test. The thermal analysis showed that chain extension often led to slight decrease of the regularity, the crystallinity, and the melting point. This deterioration of the properties is not harmful enough to impair their thermal properties and obstruct them from being used as biodegradable thermoplastics. The TGA showed that the chain‐extended polyesters were stable with initial decomposition temperature over 354.7°C. The tensile strength of the chain extended PBS and PBSAs with butylene adipate units less than 20 mol% was in the range of 18.95–31.22 MPa. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New synthetic method for aromatic polyketones from bis(arylsilane)s and aromatic dicarboxylic acid chlorides

A new synthetic method for aromatic polyketones was developed through Friedel–Crafts polycondensation of bis(arylsilane) monomers with aromatic dicarboxylic acid chlorides. The solution polycondensation of these monomer pairs in the presence of aluminum chloride in 1,2‐dichloroethane readily afforded aromatic polyketones having inherent viscosities up to 0.37 dL/g with the elimination of chlorotrimethylsilane. The polycondensation proceeded through aromatic electrophilic ipso substitution, the mechanism of which is very similar to that of normal Friedel–Crafts acylation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2729–2735, 2002     

A convenient room temperature polycondensation toward hyperbranched AB2‐type all‐aromatic polyesters with phenol terminal groups

As a convenient alternative to the classical melt polycondensation the one‐pot solution polycondensation of suitable AB₂ monomers under mild conditions has been successfully adapted to hyperbranched all‐aromatic polyester with phenol terminal groups. The polymerization was performed in solution at room temperature directly using commercially available 3,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid as monomer and 4‐(dimethylamino) pyridinium 4‐tosylate as catalyst to suppress the formation of N‐acylurea. Different carbodiimides as coupling agents were investigated to find the optimal esterification conditions. The polymers have been characterized extensively and were compared with their well‐known analogs synthesized in melt. The characterization was carried out by NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, and asymmetric flow‐field flow fractionation as an alternative separation technique for multifunctional polymers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5158–5168, 2009     

Cyclic poly(lactide)s via the ROPPOC method catalyzed by alkyl‐ or aryltin chlorides

A comparison of tributyltin chloride, dibutyltin dichloride, and butyltin trichloride as catalysts of ring‐opening polymerizations (ROPs) of l‐lactides at 160 °C in bulk reveals increasing reactivity in the above order, but only the least reactive catalysts, Bu₃SnCl, yield a uniform reaction product, namely cyclic poly(L‐lactide)s with weight average molecular weights (M_w's) in the range of 40,000–80,000. A comparison of dimethyltin , dibutyltin , and diphenyltin dichlorides resulted in the following order of reactivity: Me₂SnCl₂ < Bu₂SnCl₂ < <Ph₂SnCl₂. In this series also, the most reactive catalyst yields cyclic polylactides, but the extent of cyclization varies with the molecular weight. The formation of cyclic polylactides is explained by ROP combined with simultaneous polycondensation involving end‐to‐end cyclization (ROPPOC method). ROP of meso‐lactide at 80 or 60 °C yields even‐numbered linear chains as main products, a result supporting the ROPPOC mechanism. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 952–960     

Selective synthesis of poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) by fractional polycondensation: Enhancement of selectivity by shearing

The influence of shear flow, especially the timing for the application of shearing, was examined to enhance the selectivity for the preparation of poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) (Pp‐OB) by using hydrodynamically induced phase separation during polymerization of 4‐(4‐acetoxybenzoyloxy)benzoic acid (p‐ABAD) and m‐acetoxybenzoic acid (m‐ABA). The polymers containing few m‐oxybenzoyl (m‐OB) moieties were obtained as precipitates even at high content of m‐OB moiety in feed (χ_f) under shear flow. The content of m‐OB moiety in the precipitates (χ_p) prepared under shearing throughout the polymerization at the shear rate (γ) of 489 s^?1 was 6.3 mol % even at χ_f of 60 mol %. Especially, the Pp‐OB was obtained as the precipitates at χ_f of less than 50 mol %. The timing of the application of the shearing influenced the selectivity significantly, and the shearing just after the precipitation of the oligomers started was quite efficient to enhance the selectivity more. The χ_p of the precipitates prepared with shearing at γ of 489 s^?1 just after the precipitation was only 3.9 mol % even at χ_f of 60 mol %. The shear flow reduced the difference in the reactivity between p‐ABAD and m‐ABA, resulting in the decrease in the selectivity with regard to the formation of p‐oxybenzoyl homo‐oligomer. However, the shear flow enhanced the difference in the miscibility between homo‐oligomers and co‐oligomers. This change in the miscibility by shear flow brought about the more rapid precipitation of homo‐oligomers, leading to the enhancement of the selectivity. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

One‐pot synthesis and characterization of hyperbranched poly(ester‐amide)s from commercially available dicarboxylic acids and multihydroxyl secondary amines

A convenient and cost‐effective strategy for synthesis of hyperbranched poly(ester‐amide)s from commercially available dicarboxylic acids (A₂) and multihydroxyl secondary amine (CB₂) has been developed. By optimizing the conditions of model reactions, the AB₂‐type intermediates were formed dominantly during the initial reaction stage. Without any purification, the AB₂ intermediate was subjected to thermal polycondensation in the absence of any catalyst to prepare the aliphatic and semiaromatic hyperbranched poly(ester‐amide)s bearing multi‐hydroxyl end‐groups. The FTIR and ¹H NMR spectra indicated that the polymerization proceeded in the proposed way. The DBs of the resulting polymers were confirmed by a combination of inverse‐gated decoupling ¹³C NMR, and DEPT‐135 NMR techniques. The DBs of the hyperbranched poly(ester‐amide)s were in the range of 0.44–0.73, depending on the structure of the monomers used. The hyperbranched polymers exhibited moderate molecular weights with relatively broad distributions determined by SEC. All the polymers displayed low inherent viscosity (0.11–0.25 dL/g) due to the branched nature. Structural and end‐group effects on the thermal properties of the hyperbranched polymers were investigated using DSC. The thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the resulting polymers exhibit reasonable thermal stability. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5077–5092, 2008     

New regioselective synthesis of metalinked aromatic polyketones from metasubstituted bis(arylsilane)s and aromatic dicarboxylic acid chlorides

A new regioselective synthesis of metalinked aromatic polyketones was achieved for the first time. New metaconnected aromatic polyketones with inherent viscosities of up to 0.49 dL/g were regioselectively synthesized by the solution polycondensation of metasubstituted bis(arylsilane)s with aromatic dicarboxylic acid chlorides in the presence of aluminum chloride in 1,2‐dichloroethane along with the elimination of chlorotrimethylsilane. The polycondensation proceeded through aromatic electrophilic ipso‐substitution. The metalinked aromatic polyketones had considerably lower glass‐transition temperatures and 10% weight‐loss temperatures than those of their counterpart paracatenated aromatic polyketones. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1428–1434, 2003     

Chain-growth polycondensation of potassium 3-cyano-4-fluorophenolate derivatives for well-defined poly(arylene ether)s

Polycondensation normally proceeds in a step-growth reaction manner to give polymers with a wide range of molecular weights. However, the polycondensation of potassium 2-alkyl-5-cyano-4-fluorophenolate ( 1 ) proceeded at 150°C in a chain polymerization manner from initiator, 4-fluoro-4′-trifluoromethyl benzophenone ( 2 ), to give aromatic polyethers having controlled molecular weights and low polydispersities (M_w/M_n ⩽ 1.2). The resulting polycondensation of 1 had all of the characteristics of living polymerization and displayed a linear correlation between molecular weight and monomer conversion, maintaining low polydispersities. Sulfolane was a better solvent for chain-growth polycondensation of 1 than other aprotic solvents. The polyether from 1 with a low polydispersity showed higher crystallinity than that with a broad molecular weight distribution, obtained by the conventional polycondensation of 1 without 2 .     

Synthesis and properties of new fluorinated polyarylates derived from 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethane and aromatic diacid chlorides

A new series of fluorine-containing polyarylates were synthesized by interfacial or high-temperature solution polymerization of 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethane with six aromatic diacyl chlorides. These polyarylates had inherent viscosities ranging from 0.47 to 1.37 dl/g that corresponded to weight-average and number-average molecular weights (by gel permeation chromatography) of 35,800-72,400 and 30,700-67,700, respectively. All polymers were highly soluble in a variety of solvents, and could afford tough, transparent, and colorless films via solution casting. The glass-transition temperatures of the polymers ranged from 209 to 271 °C. All of them did not show significant decomposition below 450 °C in both nitrogen and air atmospheres.     

Multicyclic polyethers by the polycondensation of 1,2‐ or 1,3‐dicyanotetrafluorobenzene with flexible diphenols

1,2‐Dicyanotetrafluorobenzene (1,2‐DCTB) was polycondensed with various flexible diphenols in a molar ratio of 1:2, and experimental parameters such as the concentration and temperature were varied. Certain diphenols allowed a complete substitution of all C? F bonds, so perfect multicyclic polyethers (B_nCN, where B stands for bridge units, C represents cycles, and N is the degree of polymerization) were the main reaction products. Despite complete conversion, gelation was avoidable under optimized reaction conditions. However, in the case of 1,3‐dicyanotetrafluorobenzene (1,3‐DCTB), complete tetrasubstitution was not feasible with a feed ratio of 1:2. Yet, because of the inductive and mesomeric electronic interactions of all substituents in 1,3‐DCTB, the three C? F groups in the ortho position with respect to the cyano groups were significantly more reactive than the fourth C? F bond. Therefore, polycondensations with diphenols in a 3:2 feed ratio showed a relatively clean course, yielding soluble multicycles of structure B_{n /2}CN. All the multicyclic polyethers were amorphous and possessed molar mass distributions with polydispersities greater than 2. Heating with Cu²⁺ salts caused crosslinking of the multicycles derived from 1,2‐DCTB because of the formation of phthalocyanine complexes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5546–5556, 2006     

Formation of poly(ethylene phosphates) in polycondensation of H3PO4 with ethylene glycol. Kinetic and mechanistic study

Conditions of synthesis of poly(ethylene phosphates) in reaction of H₃PO₄ with HOCH₂CH₂OH (EG), the actual path of polycondensation, and structure of the obtained polymers (mostly oligomers) and kinetics of reaction are described. Preliminary kinetic information, based on the comparison of the MALDI‐TOF‐ms and ³¹P{¹H} NMR spectra as a function of conversion is given as well. Because of the dealkylation process fragments derived from di‐ and triethylene glycols are also present in the repeating units. Structures of the end groups (? CH₂CH₂OH or ? OP(O)(OH)₂) depend on the starting ratio of [EG]₀/[H₃PO₄]₀, although even at the excess of EG the acidic end groups prevail because of the dealkylation process. In MALDI‐TOF‐ms products with P_n equal up to 21 have been observed. The average polymerization degrees (P_n) are lower and have been calculated from the proportion of the end groups. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 830–843, 2008     

Rapid synthesis of optically active poly(amide-imide)s by direct polycondensation of aromatic dicarboxylic acid with aromatic diamines

4,4^′-(Hexafluoroisopropylidene)-N,N^′-bis(phthaloyl-l-leucine-p-amidobenzoic acid) (2) was prepared from the reaction of 4,4^′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)-N,N^′-bis(phthaloyl-l-leucine) diacid chloride with p-aminobenzoic acid. The direct polycondensation reaction of monomer (2) with p-phenylenediamine (2a), 4,4^′-diaminodiphenylsulfone (2b), 2,4-diaminotoluene (2c), 2,6-diaminopyridine (2d), m-phenylene diamine (2e), benzidine (2f), 4,4^′-diaminodiphenylether (2g) and 4,4^′-diaminodiphenyl methane (2h) was carried out in a medium consisting of triphenyl phosphite, N-methyl-2-pyrolidone, pyridine, and calcium chloride. The homogeneous mixture was heated at 220 °C for 1 min under nitrogen. The resulting poly(amide-imide)s (PAIs) having inherent viscosities 0.27-0.78 dl/g were obtained in high yield and are optically active and thermally stable. All of the above polymers were fully characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analyses and specific rotation. Some structural characterization and physical properties of this new optically active PAIs are reported.     

Synthesis of poly(succinimide) by bulk polycondensation of L‐aspartic acid with an acid catalyst

The bulk polycondensation of L ‐aspartic acid (ASP) with an acid catalyst under batch and continuous conditions was established as a preparative method for producing poly(succinimide) (PSI). Although sulfuric acid, p‐toluenesulfonic acid, and methanesulfonic acid were effective at producing PSI in a high conversion of ASP, o‐phosphoric acid was the most suitable catalyst for yielding PSI with a high weight‐average molecular weight (M_w) in a quantitative conversion; that is, the M_w value was 24,000. For the continuous process using a twin‐screw extruder at 3.0 kg · h⁻¹ of the ASP feed rate, the conversion was greater than 99%, and the M_w value was 23,000 for the polycondensation with 10 wt % o‐phosphoric acid at 260°C. Sodium polyaspartate (PASP‐Na) originating from the acid‐catalyzed polycondensation exhibited high biodegradability and calcium‐ion‐chelating ability. The total organic carbon value was 86 ∼ 88%, and 100 g of PASP‐Na chelated with 5.5 ∼ 5.6 g of calcium ion, which was similar to the value for PASP‐Na from the acid‐catalyzed polycondensation with a mixed solvent © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 117–122, 2000