Novel photocurable monomers: The synthesis of difunctional vinyl ethers with a phosphonate group and difunctional 1‐propenyl ethers with a phosphonate group and their photoinitiated cationic polymerization

Phosphorus‐containing vinyl ether monomers and 1‐propenyl ether monomers were prepared by the regioselective addition reaction of glycidyl vinyl ether (GVE) or 1‐propenyl glycidyl ether with diaryl phosphonates with quaternary onium salts as catalysts. The reaction of GVE with bis(4‐chlorophenyl) phenylphosphonate gave bis[1‐(4‐chlorophenoxy methyl)‐2‐(vinyloxy)ethyl]phenylphosphonate in a 68% yield. The structures of the resulting phosphorus‐containing vinyl ether monomers and 1‐propenyl ether monomers were confirmed by IR and ¹H NMR spectra and elemental analysis. Photoinitiated cationic polymerizations of the resulting phosphorus‐containing vinyl ether monomers and 1‐propenyl ether monomers were investigated with photoacid generators. The polymerization of vinyl ether groups and 1‐propenyl ether groups of the obtained monomers proceeded very smoothly with a sulfonium‐type cationic photoinitiator, bis[4‐(diphenylsulfonio)phenyl]sulfide‐bis(hexafluorophosphate), upon UV irradiation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3105–3115, 2005     

Application of novel polymers with S‐alkylsulfonium salt moieties as alkylating agents and thermal latent cationic initiators

Sulfonium‐containing polymers prepared from dibenzothiophene and diphenyl sulfide were applied as both alkylating agents and latent initiators for the cationic polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether. The alkylation of acetonitrile proceeded smoothly with poly(S‐n‐octyl‐2‐vinyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate) ( 4 ; 64 mol % octyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate unit) to give N‐(n‐octyl)acetamide in an excellent yield on the basis of the starting octyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate unit in 4 . The cationic polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether was also carried out in the presence of poly(S‐methyl‐2‐vinyldibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate) or poly(S‐n‐octyl‐4‐vinyldiphenylsulfonium tetrafluoroborate) to confirm their moderate thermal latent activity. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3928–3933, 2001     

Synthesis and characterization of soluble copoly(ether ketone)s containing double bonds

A series of copoly(ether ketone)s containing double bonds along the polymer chains were synthesized from the condensation polymerization of hydroquinone with 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone and 4,5‐bis(4‐fluorobenzoyl)‐1‐methylcyclohexene in sulfolane containing anhydrous potassium carbonate. The presence of methylcyclohexene in the polymer chains resulted in an improvement in the solubility of poly(ether ketone)s in organic solvents such as chloroform, chlorobenzene, and sulfolane. As a result, the conditions for synthesizing these polymers were much milder than those for poly(ether ether ketone). The new copoly(ether ketone)s also showed good tensile properties and reasonable thermal stability. New polyethers containing pyrazine unites were obtained from the cyclization reaction of these copoly(ether ketone)s with hydrazine. The hydrazine cycloderivatives led to an increase in the glass‐transition temperatures and a decrease in solubility in organic solvents. © 2002 Government of Canada. Exclusive world‐wide publication rights in the article have been transferred to Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3449–3454, 2002     

Anionic alternating copolymerization of 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin and glycidyl ethers: A new approach to polyester synthesis

Anionic copolymerizations of 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin (DHCM) and a series of glycidyl ethers (n‐butyl glycidyl ether, tert‐butyl glycidyl ether, and allyl glycidyl ether) with 2‐ethyl‐4‐methylimidazole as an initiator proceeded in a 1:1 alternating manner to give the corresponding polyesters, whose structures were confirmed by spectroscopic analyses and reductive scission of the ester bonds in the main chain with lithium aluminum hydride, followed by detailed analyses of the resulting fragments. The polyester obtained by the copolymerization of DHCM and allyl glycidyl ether inherited the allyl groups in the side chain, whose applicability to chemical modifications of the polyester was successfully demonstrated by a platinum‐catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4092–4102, 2008     

Role of cyclic dithiocarbonate as a promoter in the reaction of epoxide and imine in the presence of water

It was demonstrated that the reaction of epoxide and imine as a latent initiator under highly humid conditions was accelerated by addition of 5‐phenoxymethyl‐1,3‐oxathiolane‐2‐thione ( 1 ). When 1 was added to a mixture of glycidyl phenyl ether and an imine, the reaction of the epoxide with an amine released from the imine became faster than was the case without 1 , that is, 1 worked as a promoter of the reaction. The curing rate and initial adhesive strength of epoxy resin increased compared with that without 1 . © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4276–4283, 2004     

Reactions of unsymmetrical α‐diazo‐β‐diketones with imines: Syntheses of 4H‐1,3‐oxazin‐4‐ones

Cycloaddition reactions of an unsymmetrical α‐diazo‐β‐diketone, 2‐diazo‐1‐phenyl‐1,3‐butanedione, with a series of imines having various substituents were studied. The results indicated that only cycloadducts derived from acetylphenylketene, which was generated by the thermal Wolff rearrangement of 2‐diazo‐1‐phenyl‐1,3‐butanedione with phenyl migration, and imines were obtained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 13:165–168, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10015     

Synthesis of phosphorus‐containing vinyl ether monomers and oligomers and their photoinitiated polymerization

Divinyl ether monomers containing phosphorous residues were synthesized by the addition reaction of glycidyl vinyl ether (GVE) with various phosphonic dichlorides or dichlorophosphates with quaternary onium salts as catalysts. The reaction of GVE with phenylphosphonic dichloride gave bis[1‐(chloromethyl)‐2‐(vinyloxy)ethyl]phenylphosphonate ( 1a ) in a 77% yield. The polycondensation of 1a with terephthalic acid was also carried out with 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undecene‐7 (DBU) as a condensing agent to afford the corresponding phosphorus‐containing polyester. A multifunctional monomer containing both vinyl ether groups and methacrylate groups was prepared by the reaction of 1a with methacrylic acid with DBU. The photoinitiated cationic polymerization of these vinyl ether compounds proceeded rapidly with bis[4‐(diphenylsulfonio)phenyl]sulfide‐bishexafluorophosphate as the cationic photoinitiator without a solvent upon ultraviolet irradiation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2031–2042, 2004     

Anionic alternating copolymerization of a bifunctional six‐membered lactone and glycidyl phenyl ether: Selective synthesis of a linear polyester having lactone moiety

An imidazole‐initiated copolymerization of an aromatic bislactone, 10‐methyl‐2H,8H‐benzo[1,2‐b:5,4‐b′]bipyran‐2,8‐dione ( 1 ), and glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) was investigated. In spite of the bifunctional nature of 1 that would potentially permit formation of networked and thus insoluble polymers upon its copolymerization, only one of the two lactone moieties of 1 exclusively underwent the copolymerization to give a linear polyester. Spectroscopic analysis of the polyester and its reductive scission into the corresponding fragment revealed that the polyester was formed by a 1:1 alternating copolymerization of GPE and the lactone moiety of 1 . The other lactone in 1 that did not participate in the copolymerization was quantitatively incorporated into the side chain of the polyester as a reactive site, of which ring‐opening reactions by amine and alcohol as nucleophilic reagents allowed chemoselective polymer reactions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1661–1672, 2009     

Modification of proline‐based 2,5‐diketopiperazines by anionic ring‐opening polymerization

2,5‐Diketopiperazines (DKPs) are the smallest cyclic dipeptides found in nature with various attractive properties. In this study, we have demonstrated the successful modification of proline‐based DKPs using anionic ring‐opening polymerization (AROP) as a direct approach. Four different proline‐based DKPs with various side chains and increasing steric hindrance were used as initiating species for the polymerization of 1,2‐epoxybutane or ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether in the presence of t‐BuP₄ phosphazene base. The addition of a Lewis acid, tri‐isobutyl aluminum, to the reaction mixture strongly decreased the occurrence of side reactions. Impact of the DKP side‐chain functionalities on molar mass control and dispersity was successfully evidenced. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 1008–1016     

Anionic alternating copolymerization of epoxide and six‐membered lactone bearing naphthyl moiety

This article describes the anionic copolymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) and 1,2‐dihydro‐3H‐naphtho[2,1‐b]pyran‐3‐one (DHNP), a six‐membered aromatic lactone bearing naphthyl moiety. The copolymerization proceeded in a 1:1 alternating manner, to afford the corresponding polyester. The ester linkage in the main chain was cleavable by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride to give the corresponding diol that inherited the structure of the alternating sequence. The copolymerization ability of DHNP permitted its addition as a comonomer to an imidazole‐initiated polymerization of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether. The resulting networked polymer, of which main chain was endowed with the DHNP‐derived rigid naphthalene moieties, showed a higher glass transition temperature than that obtained similarly with using 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin (DHCM) as a comonomer, an analogous aromatic lactone bearing phenylene moiety instead of naphthalene moiety of DHNP. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Straightforward preparation of polymers based on oligodimethylsiloxane and alkylamine

Novel oligodimethylsiloxane‐based polymers with alkyl side chain were synthesized in bulk by step‐growth polymerization between α,ω‐glycidyl ether oligodimethylsiloxanes and a monoalkylamine in the absence of catalyst and at temperatures ranging between 80 and 180 °C. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight results attested for the high reactivity of the amine functions with the glycidyl groups and revealed that the main polymer structure was (A₂B₂)_n type with alkyl moieties as dangling chains. No etherification was observed during the reaction even at high temperatures and the nature of the end groups strongly depended on the molar ratio between glycidyl and amine functions. Polymerization reactions were followed by ¹H NMR and the kinetics of the glycidyl‐amine reaction pointed out the dependence of temperature, molar ratio, and the molar mass of the oligodimethylsiloxane. High conversion rates were obtained, especially with the lowest molecular weight oligodimethylsiloxane. An optimized kinetic model derived from the Horie's model was discussed and permitted to correctly fit the experimental data. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Thermally latent reaction of hemiacetal ester with epoxide catalyzed by recyclable polymeric catalyst consisting of salen‐zinc complex and polyurethane main chain

This article describes the synthesis of and catalysis with a polymeric catalyst (Zn/ 1_NHCOO ) carrying salen‐zinc complex structure in the main chain prepared from polyaddition of zinc/bis(4‐hydroxy)salicylidene‐1,2‐diiminoethane and 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate. Poly(Zn/ 1_NHCOO ) promoted the reaction of glycidyl phenyl ether (2) with 1‐propoxyethyl‐2‐ethylhexanoate (3) only at moderately elevated temperatures. Poly(Zn/ 1_NHCOO ) can be recycled by simple filtration from the reaction mixtures, and the recycled polymer is as active as the freshly prepared one. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 3673–3681, 2008     

Controlled synthesis of polyepichlorohydrin with pendant cyclic carbonate functions for isocyanate‐free polyurethane networks

Poly(allyl glycidyl ether) and poly(allyl glycidyl ether‐co‐epichlorohydrin) were prepared by monomer‐activated anionic polymerization. Quantitative and controlled polymerization of allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) giving high molar mass polyether was achieved in a few hours at room temperature in toluene using tetraoctylammonium salt as initiator in presence of an excess of triisobutylaluminum ([i‐Bu₃Al]/[NOct₄Br] = 2?4). Following the same polymerization route, the copolymerization of AGE and epichlorohydrin yields in a living‐like manner gradient‐type copolymers with controlled molar masses. Chemical modification of the pendant allyl group into cyclic carbonate was then investigated and the corresponding polymers were used as precursors for the isocyanate‐free synthesis of polyurethane networks in presence of a diamine. Formation of crosslinked materials was followed and characterized by infrared and differential scanning calorimetry. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Synthesis of bicyclic bis(γ‐butyrolactone) derivatives bearing sulfide moieties and their alternating copolymers with epoxide

A series of bicyclic bis(γ‐butyrolactone)s (BBL) bearing sulfide moiety 2 were readily synthesized from a precursor BBL bearing isopropenyl group 1. This efficient and versatile synthesis of 2 was achieved by a highly reliable radical addition reaction of thiols to the C‐C double bond in the isopropenyl group 2 underwent anionic copolymerization with glycidyl phenyl ether in a 1:1 alternating manner to give a series of the corresponding polyester 3, of which side chains inherited the sulfide group from 2. The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of 3 showed clear dependence on the flexibility of the sulfide side chains. The scope of this copolymerization system was further expanded by synthesizing a bifunctional BBL 4 from 1 with using hexanedithiol and performing its copolymerization with bisphenol A diglycidyl ether 5. The copolymerization gave the corresponding networked polymer in high yield. During the copolymerization, the volume expanding nature of the double ring‐opening reaction of 4 contributed to the efficient compensation of the intrinsic volume shrinkage of the ring‐opening of epoxide to achieve a shrinkage‐free curing system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Graft polymerization of epoxide and alternating graft copolymerization of epoxide–acid anhydride onto a polystyrene backbone having an aminimide moiety

Graft polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) and alternating graft copolymerization of GPE–succinic anhydride (SA) onto a polymer‐supported aminimide were examined. The polymer‐supported aminimide was synthesized by radical polymerization of 1,1‐dimethyl‐1‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐(4‐vinylbenzyloxy)propyl)amine 2‐benzoylimide, which was prepared by the reaction of methyl benzoate with equimolar amounts of 1,1‐dimethyl hydrazine and 4‐glycidylmethylstyrene. This aminimide could initiate the polymerization of GPE and alternating copolymerization of GPE with SA to give the corresponding graft copolymers. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 1041–1048, 1999     

Synthesis and characterization of halogen‐containing poly(ether ketone ketone)s

A series of novel poly(ether ketone ketone)s (PEKKs) were synthesized from diphenyl ether and isophthaloyl chloride derivatives such as 5‐halo‐ and 5‐tert‐butyl‐isophthaloyl chloride. The aromatic electrophilic substitution route to polyketones was a convenient route for the preparation of the polymers in high yields via precipitation polycondensation at a low temperature with aluminum trichloride as a catalyst. High molecular weight PEKKs were achieved with number‐average molecular weights of 15,000–100,000 g/mol for polymers that showed good solubility in organic solvents. The presence of substituents greatly modified the spectroscopic features in comparison with those of unsubstituted isophthaloyl poly(ether ketone ketone)s, particularly for the series containing halogens, for which significant variations of the chemical shifts in both ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra were observed; these shifts could be related to the nature of the halogen. Thermal properties were also affected by the presence of pendent substituents, with clear enhancements of the glass‐transition temperatures, which could be ascribed to the nature and bulkiness of the substituents. Thermogravimetric analyses showed that the new polymers had good thermal resistance, although an important drop in thermal resistance was observed for polymers bearing large halogen atoms, such as bromine and iodine. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2601–2608, 2002     

Fully aromatic poly(ether ketone)s bearing macrocycle pendants: Synthesis and crosslinking

This study reports a method to prepare fully aromatic poly(ether ketone) thermosets. The cyclization of 2′,5′‐dimethoxy[1,1′‐biphenyl]‐2,5‐diol and a difluoro monomer was carried out under pseudo high dilution condition. Two types of fully aromatic poly(ether ketone)s with macrocycle were successfully prepared by copolymerization of macrocycle of aryl ether ketone containing hydroxyphenyl groups, 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphenol (HFBPA), and 4,4‐difluorobenzophenone. The obtained copolymers have high molecular mass, good solubility, and high glass transition temperatures in the presence of CsF, the crosslinking reaction of copolymers occurred and afforded fully aromatic thermoset poly(aryl ether ketone)s by ring‐opening reaction driven by entropy. After crosslinking, these copolymers show much higher glass transition temperatures, excellent thermal stability, and better mechanical strength. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7002–7010, 2008     

Synthesis of water‐soluble allyl‐functionalized oligochitosan and its modification by thiol–ene addition in water

A novel, straightforward and versatile chemical pathway has been studied to functionalize water‐soluble chitosan oligomers. This metal‐free methodology is based on the epoxy‐amine reaction of the allyl glycidyl ether with chitosan, followed by thiol‐ene radical coupling reaction of ω‐functional mercaptans, using 4,4′‐Azobis(4‐cyanovaleric acid) as a free radical initiator. Both reactions were entirely carried out in water. In a preliminary step, chitosan depolymerization was carried out using H₂O₂ in an acetic medium under 100 W microwave irradiation, optimizing the yield of water‐soluble oligomers. Functionalization by six different thiols bearing alcohol, carboxylic acid, ester, and amino groups was then performed, leading to a range of functional oligochitosans with different grafting efficiencies. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 39–48     

Comparative effect of phthalazinone units in sulfonated poly(arylene ether ether ketone ketone) copolymers as proton exchange membrane materials

A new series of aromatic poly(arylene ether ether ketone ketone) copolymers containing pendant sulfonic acid groups (SPAEEKK‐D) were synthesized from commercially available monomers 1,3‐bis(4‐fluorobenzoyl)‐benzene, sodium 6,7‐dihydroxy‐2‐naphthalenesulfonate, and 4‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐2,3‐phthalazin‐1‐one (DHPZ). Structure–property relationships of the phthalazinone SPAEEKK‐D series poly(arylene ether ether ketone ketone) copolymer were compared with copolymers SPAEEKK‐B and SPAEEKK‐H containing different diols such as 4,4′‐biphenol and hydroquinone, respectively, prepared in our earlier work. Ion exchange capacity (IEC_w, weight‐based; IEC_v, volume‐based), thermal stabilities, swelling, proton and methanol transport properties of the membranes were investigated in relation to their structures and compared with those of perfluorinated ionomer (Nafion 117). The SPAEEKK‐D membrane incorporating the phthalazinone monomer DHPZ showed relatively lower water uptake and methanol permeability compared with earlier SPAEEKK‐B and SPAEEKK‐H membranes incorporating biphenol and hydroquinone monomers, respectively. Inclusion of phthalazinone in the SPAEEKK‐D copolymers led to lower water absorption, enabling increased proton exchange concentrations in the hydrated polymer matrix that resulted in more desirable membrane properties for future direct methanol fuel cell applications. The SPAEEKK‐D membranes also showed improved mechanical and thermal properties and oxidative stability compared with the earlier SPAEEKK‐B and ‐H membranes. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 989–1002, 2008     

Mechanistic study of ring‐opening copolymerization of ɛ‐caprolactam with epoxide: Development of novel thermosetting epoxy resin system

We investigated the mechanism of the ring‐opening copolymerization of ?‐caprolactam (?‐CL) with glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) to afford poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE) as a model reaction of the thermal curing of certain epoxy resins with ?‐CL. The reaction of ?‐CL and GPE proceeded efficiently in the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) at 170^°C for 2 h. The monomer reactivities r₁ of ?‐CL and r₂ of GPE calculated according to the Fineman‐Ross method and the Kelen‐Tüdös method were 0.58 and 5.52, respectively. These values indicate that poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE) has a pseudo‐block gradient copolymer. Based on these results, we examined the thermal curing reactions of certain epoxy resins with ?‐CL. The corresponding novel cured products were obtained quantitatively, and each of them showed a high glass transition temperature and high thermal stability, presumably due at least in part to a pseudo‐block gradient primary structure resembling that of poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2220–2228