Polymerization of Styrene Initiated by Photoexcited Charge-Transfer Complex

Photopolymerization of styrene in the presence of pyromellitic dianhydride, an electron acceptor which forms a charge-transfer complex with the monomer, was studied. Polymerization was initiated by illumination with a light of wavelength longer than 350 nm, where only the charge-transfer absorption band exists. It was found that the reaction involves cationic and radical polymerizations and that the reaction course strongly depends on polarity of the system. It was also suggested by the dependence of the rate of polymerization on light intensity and temperature that the cationic polymerization consists of free ion and ion-pair polymerizations. These results were compared with those of the photoinduced cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene, which has previously been studied.     

Photoinduced ionic polymerization. II. Cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene in the presence of tetracyanobenzene

The dependence of the rate of polymerization on light intensity and the stereoregularity of the polymer was studied to elucidate the propagation and termination mechanisms of the photoinduced cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene in the presence of tetracyanobenzene in methylene chloride. The rate of polymerization was proportional to the light intensity. The polymer is highly syndiotactic, and the stereoregularity is similar to that of polymers obtained by radiation-induced cationic polymerization. The initiation mechanism was also studied by electron spin resonance, by which the anion radical of tetracyanobenzene formed from a photoexcited complex between α-methylstyrene and tetracyanobenzene was observed. The cation radical of α-methylstyrene, counterpart of the anion radical, is believed to initiate the polymerization.     

Recent Progress of Photo- and Radiation-Induced Ionic Polymerizations

Photoinduced ionic polymerizations of the monomers α-methylstyrene, cyclohexeneoxide, nitroethylene, and acrylonitrile were carried out in the presence of electron acceptor or donor molecules. These polymerizations are proved to be initiated by ions formed through the dissociation of the photoexcited electron donor-acceptor complex and to proceed by ionic mechanism.

The molecular weight distribution of the polymer and the light intensity dependency on the rate of polymerization indicate that free ionic and ion-pair propagations coexist in the cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene.

Anionic polymerizations were observed for the nitroethylenetetrahydrofuran and acrylonitrile-dimethylformamide systems.

Radiation-induced cationic polymerizations of styrene and α-methylstyrene were found to proceed by free cationic propagation. The effect of added electron acceptors in these polymerizations was investigated.     

Radiation-induced polymerization at high dose rate. II. α-Methylstyrene in bulk

Bulk polymerization of α-methylstyrene was carried out in a wide dose rate range, 7.6–256 rad/sec by γ rays and 8.5 × 10³–2.1 × 10⁵ rad/sec by electron beams. At high dose rate by electron beams, cationic polymerization took place along with formation of oligomeric product of DP _n = ～4. At low dose rate by γ rays, radical polymerization was found to occur in water-saturated monomer. The cationic polymerization at high dose rate proceeds with essentially the same mechanism as was already known in γ-ray polymerization of dry monomers. Relatively low reaction rate of the cationic polymerization compared with that of styrene is explained with the fact that the propagation of α-methylstyrene is much more easily inhibited by a slight amount of water.     

Laser-initiated polymerization of epoxies in the presence of maleic anhydride

Laser-initiated polymerization of cyclohexene oxide in the presence of maleic anhydride was investigated. The influences of solvents laser irradiation time and the monomer feed ratio on the polymer yield and composition were evaluated. The rate of polymerization increased with an increase in the molar concentration of maleic anhydride in the monomer feed. Short irradiation times of 1–3 min duration gave very high yield of epoxy polymer (>80% conversion). Infrared spectral studies of the polymer product indicated the formation of polyether linkage at lower levels of conversion and an adduct of polyether and maleic anhydride at higher polymer conversions. The quantitative chemical analyses results also showed similar results. The results indicated that the polymerization was initiated by the excited charge transfer complex between the electron donor, cyclohexane oxide, and the electron acceptor–maleic anhydride. In the initial stages of polymerization, cyclohexene oxide undergoes a cationic polymerization in the presence of the radical anion of maleic anhydride. Laser-initiated polymerization of cyclohexene oxide/maleic anhydride is several hundred times more efficient than UV-initiated polymerization, as measured by the energy absorbed by the polymer system.     

The formation of radical cations of styrene and α-methylstyrene in the irradiation of mixtures of these monomers with TiCl4 and SnCl4 in a semicrystalline heptane matrix

The formation of paramagnetic intermediates following the irradiation of styrene, α-methylstyrene, and their mixtures at ?90°C in the presence of TiCl⁴ and SnCl⁴ in the polycrystalline heptane matrix was investigated. The effect of light on vinyl aromatic monomers leads to the formation of radical cations of styrene and α-methylstyrene, which subsequently initiate the polymerization. The polymerization of styrene and α-methylstyrene supposedly proceeds via the cationic mechanism.     

Photoinduced ionic polymerization. V. Coexistence of cationic and anionic polymerizations

Photopolymerization of a mixture of cyclohexene oxide and nitroethylene was carried out with the purpose of carrying out cationic and anionic polymerizations simultaneously in the same system. The excitation of the charge transfer band by light of wavelength longer than 390 nm gives rise to the polymerization of both monomers. No polymer was obtained in the dark. Additives affect the composition of the polymer, the rates of polymerization, and the molecular weight distributions. These data show that cationic polymerization of cyclohexene oxide and anionic polymerization of nitroethylene occurs simultaneously in this system.     

Photoinduced ionic polymerization. VII. Cationic polymerization of cyclohexene oxide in solid state

Photopolymerization of cyclohexene oxide in the presence of electron acceptors was studied in a bulk system (in liquid as well as in solid states). The polymerization was proved to proceed by a cationic mechanism in both states by the effect of inhibitors. In a liquid phase the light intensity dependence of the rate of polymerization and the molecular weight distribution showed a contribution of a free ionic polymerization. Any discontinuous phenomenon in the rate as well as in the molecular weight was not discerned between liquid(above ?36°C) and plastic crystal (between ?36 and ?81°C) phases. A quantum yield of monomer consumption as high as 8 × 10³ was observed in the plastic crystal phase. Below ?81°C in the normal crystal phase the rate as well as the molecular weight was remarkably suppressed.     

Photoinitiated cationic polymerization using o-phthaldehyde and pyridinium salt

The cationic polymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO), n-butyl vinylether (BVE), N-vinylcarbazole (NVC), and 4-vinyl cyclohexenedioxide (4-VCHD) is initiated upon UV irradiation (Λ_inc. = 350 nm) of dichloromethane solution containing N-ethoxy-2-methyl-pyridinium hexafluorophosphate (EMP⁺PF₆) and o-phthaldehyde. A feasible initiation mechanism involves formation of biradical by intramolecular hydrogen abstraction of triplet o-phthaldehyde. Oxidation of these radicals by EMP⁺ ions yields protons capable of initiating the cationic polymerization. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solvent‐free ring‐opening polymerization of cyclohexene oxide catalyzed by palladium chloride

In this study, we have for the first time demonstrated that palladium chloride (PdCl₂) is an efficient catalyst for ring‐opening polymerization of cyclohexene oxide in a solvent‐free condition. The polymerization product was in atactic structure, and reaction conditions, such as reaction temperature, time, and catalyst amount, showed effects on polymerization conversion yield, turnover number, and number‐average molecular weight of the resulting poly(cyclohexene oxide). PdCl₂ catalysis follows a cationic ring‐opening mechanism. The polymerization result is highly determined by the chemical structure of the monomers.     

Ionic polymerization under an electric field. III. Cationic polymerizations of α-methylstyrene and styrene

Cationic polymerizations of α-methylstyrene and styrene were carried out in an electric field with iodine as a catalyst and ethylene dichloride as the solvent. The effects of the field on the rate of polymerization and the degree of polymerization were studied. It was found that the field increased the rate of polymerization of α-methylstyrene and, also slightly increased the degree of polymerization, whereas the field had no influence on these quantities in the case of styrene. The expressions for the rate of polymerization and the degree of polymerization, which were derived in a previous paper and refined in the present paper, show that these quantities are generally a function of the degree of dissociation of ion pairs at growing chain ends. For a comparatively large degree of dissociation, these expressions can account for the field effect as was observed on α-methylstyrene, if one assumes that the degree of dissociation in the presence of an electric field is larger than that in its absence, and that the free-ion propagation proceeds much faster than the ion-pair propagation. For a small degree of dissociation, however, these expressions become practically independent of the degree of dissociation so that a possible increase due to the presence of an electric field gives rise to no observable effect on the polymerization. This situation may be interpreted as corresponding to the case of styrene. In other words, the polymerization of α-methylstyrene has more free ionic character than that of styrene.     

Olefin polymerization in liquid sulfur dioxide initiated by m-chloroperbenzoic acid. I. Homopolymerization of styrene and α-methylstyrene

Homopolymerizations of styrene (Sty) and α-methylstyrene (AMS) in liquid sulfur dioxide were carried out in the temperature range from ?10°C to ?78°C, using m-chloroperbenzoic acid as initiator. It is shown, through the effect of initiator concentration, temperature, and times of reaction on the conversion and molecular weight of the polymers, that AMS is more reactive than Sty because it requires a smaller amount of initiator for the same conversion to be reached, although the molecular weight of the resulting polymer is lower. A linear relationship has been observed for Sty between the degree of polymerization and the initiator concentration. Within the experimental conditions employed, the presence of polysulfones has been discarded by elemental analysis. The polymerization reactions are considered to be cationic in mechanism.     

Molecular weight distribution studies. I. Radiation-induced polymerization of liquid α-methylstyrene

The concentration of water in purified and BaO-dried α-methylstyrene was found to be 1.1 × 10^?4M. The radiation-induced bulk polymerization of the α-methylstyrene thus prepared was studied in the temperature range of ?20°C to 35°C. The polymerization rate varied as the 0.55 power of the dose rate. The theoretical molecular weights and molecular weight distribution were calculated from a proposed kinetic scheme and these values were then compared with those found experimentally. The agreement between these two was reasonably close, and therefore it was concluded that, from the molecular weight distribution point of view, the proposed kinetic scheme for the cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene is an acceptable one. The rate constant for chain transfer to monomer k_f changed with temperature and was found to be responsible for the decrease in the molecular weight of the polymer with increase in temperature. k_f and k_p at 20°C were found to be 0.95 × 10⁴ l./mole-sec and 0.99 × 10⁶ l./mole-sec, respectively.     

The cationic polymerization and copolymerization of isopropenylmetallocene monomers

Three types of isopropenylmetallocene monomers were synthesized and subjected to polymerization and copolymerization by cationic initiators; (1) isopropenylferrocene (IF); (2) (η⁵-isopropenylcyclopentadienyl)dicarbonylnitrosylmolybdenum (IDM); and (3) 1,1′-diisopropenylcyclopentadienylstannocene (DIS), and related derivatives of each. IF was synthesized by a three-step procedure involving the acetylation of ferrocene, conversion of the latter to 2-ferrocenyl-2-propanol, and dehydration of the carbinol. IF was homopolymerized under various cationic initiation conditions, but only low molecular weight homopolymers were obtained. Copolymerization of IF with styrene and with p-methoxy-α-methylstyrene also gave only low molecular weight products. The formation of only low molecular weight polymers in all polymerization reactions is believed to result from the effect of the unusually high stability of ferrocenyl carbenium ions on its propagation reaction. The observed polymerization behavior of α-trifluoromethylvinylferrocene is in accord with this conclusion. IDM and DIS did not form polymeric products under cationic conditions, although copolymers could be obtained for each of these monomers and styrene with a free radical polymerization initiator (AIBN).     

Condensation polymerization of pyromellitic dianhydride with aromatic diamine in aprotic solvent: A reaction mechanism

Based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, a probable reaction mechanism was proposed for the condensation polymerization of pyromellitic dianhydride with aromatic diamines in aprotic solvent, N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), to yield aromatic polyimides. The mechanism shows the essential role played by the solvent during polymerization reaction and in imidization. It explains the formation of polyamic acid and that of its high molecular weight buildup under the conditions in which solid dianhydride was added to the solution of diamine in DMAc. A prepolymer complex formation was observed, along with the main polyamic acid, when solid diamine was added to the solution of dianhydride in DMAc. The structure of the prepolymer was derived on the basis of NMR and its formation explained in the mechanism. The nature of the prepolymer was such that on treatment with anhydride it goes to polyamic acid.     

Synthetic routes to block copolymerization by changing mechanism from cationic polymerization to free radical polymerisation

Polymers containing thermolabile groups were synthesized by various cationic polymerization initiation mechanisms, namely; oxo–carbenium, promoted cationic and activated monomer polymerization. These polymers used in a subsequent blocking step in which azo groups were decomposed and converted into initiating centres from which blocks were grown by means of free radical polymerization. This procedure was applied to specific systems in which cationic polymerizable monomers are tetrahydrofuran (THF), cyclohexene oxide (CHO) and epichlorohydrin (ECH), respectively, and the free radical polymerizable monomer is styrene (St).     

Cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene from polydienes. I. Synthesis and characterization of poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers

The preparation of poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers was investigated with three different alkylaluminum coinitiators. The alkylaluminum compounds in conjunction with polybutadiene which contained a low concentration of labile chlorine atoms initiated the polymerization of α-methylstyrene to produce graft copolymers. Trimethylaluminum gave higher grafting efficiencies than diethylaluminum chloride at comparable monomer conversions. Triethylaluminum produced only very low monomer conversions (<5%), even at long reaction times, and for this reason was not studied extensively. The number of grafts per polybutadiene backbone was determined for a number of copolymers and found to increase slightly as the allylic chlorine concentration in the polybutadiene backbone was increased. In all cases, however, only a low percentage of the available labile chlorine sites along the polybutadiene backbone resulted in grafted α-methylstyrene side chains. The addition of small quantities of water to the polymerization solvent greatly enhanced the grafting rate and ultimate monomer conversion during the synthesis of these poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers. The mechanistic role of water during these grafting reactions is unknown at the present time.     

Photoinitation of cationic polymerization. II. Laser flash photolysis of diphenyliodonium salts

Laser flash photolysis of diphenyliodonium salts produces phenyliodinium radical cation (PhI^+·), which was also generated independently by flash-induced electron transfer from iodobenzene to a phenanthrolinium salt. Apparent second-order rate constants were determined for reaction of the transient (PhI^+·) with nucleophiles, including iodobenzene and cyclohexene oxide. Quantum yields of formation of acid from stationary photolysis of diphenyliodonium hexafluoroarsenate were found to be significantly higher than yields of iodobenzene. These results may be explained by facile reaction of PhI^+· with PhI to yield a new iodonium salt together with a proton. High reactivity of PhI^+· with cyclohexene oxide suggests that the transient may directly initiate cationic polymerization of epoxides.     

Synthetic applications of non-polymerizable monomers in living carbocationic polymerization

The foundation and methodology of using highly reactive but non-polymerizable monomers in living cationic polymerizations is introduced. The chemistry and kinetics of 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) addition to living polyisobutylene (PIB) in methyl chloride/n-hexanes 40/60 v/v at −80°C is reported. Monoaddition occurred even when large excess of 1,1-diphenylethylene was used. The methanol quenched polymer of the DPE capped PIB carried -OCH₃ functionality exclusively, suggesting that the diphenyl alkyl chain-ends are completely ionized, which was confirmed by conductivity studies. By in-situ functionalization using soft nucleophiles a variety of functional groups were obtained, most notably ester upon reaction with silyl ketene acetal. It was found that the diphenyl carbenium ion is an efficient initiating species for the polymerization of reactive monomers such as vinyl ethers and α-methylstyrene. The synthesis of PIB based block copolymers was accomplished by sequential monomer addition, using para-methylstyrene, α-methylstyrene or isobutyl vinyl ether as the second monomer. It involved capping with DPE, followed by tailoring the Lewis acidity to the reactivity of the second monomer by the addition of titanium(IV) alkoxide, by replacing the Lewis acid with a weaker one or by the use of a common ion salt. PIB-b-PMMA was obtained by the combination of living cationic and group transfer (GTP) polymerizations.     

Some new developments in vinyl ether polymerization

Different combinations of acetals with trimethylsilyl iodide have been explored as new initiating systems for the vinyl ether polymerization. The resulting polymers are characterized by controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions, confirming the living polymerization mechanism. Acetals can also be used as transfer agents in the polymerization of vinyl ethers. When using 1,1-diethoxyethane (DEE) as transfer agent and isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) as monomer, a transfer constant of 0.2 was obtained (at −40°C in toluene). This method, transposed to functional acetals, provides a new way to prepare polyvinyl ethers with one or two functional end groups. The cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether initiated with the combination triflic acid/thietane, where thietane acts as electron donating moderator, leads to star-shaped polyvinylether-polythietane block-copolymers (at −40°C in dichloromethane). The block-copolymer structure is obtained because the vinyl ether polymerization is stopped when the α-alkoxy thietanium ion (active species) is attacked by a thietane molecule, which is at the same time an initiation reaction for the thietane polymerization. The star-shaped structure of the block-polymer is the result of the intermolecular termination in the cationic polymerization of thietane. When using a bifunctional initiator system, a polymer network is obtained consisting of linear polyIBVE-segments interconnected by branched polythietane segments. These findings support the sulfonium ion structure of the active species in the cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers initiated by the acid-sulfide system.