Modeling of Coesterification Process for Biodegradable Poly(Butylene Succinate‐co‐Butylene Terephthalate) Copolyesters

Comprehensive mathematical model based on the kinetics and thermodynamic equations is developed to examine a coesterification concept of biodegradable aliphatic‐aromatic copolyesters, poly(butylene succinate‐co‐butylene terephthalate) (PBST). The simulation results for batch process are validated with pilot experimental data. The continuous process is further studied to figure out the coesterification performance of succinic acid (SA) and terephthalic acid (TPA) with different reaction activities and thermodynamic properties in terms of reaction efficiency, small molecular evaporation and product quality. There is a compromise between the operating conditions of the two systems of SA/1,4‐butanediol (BDO) and TPA/BDO. Proper pressure reduction is beneficial to reaction efficiency and product quality. The way to increase reaction efficiency by raising temperature is limited due to the serious evaporation of reactants. Influenced by the solid–liquid equilibrium and the slow reaction rate of TPA, the esterification of acid needs sufficient residence time to complete.     

Determination of percolation threshold electroactivity and phase behavior study on conducting blends of thermotropic polyesters and polyaniline

The new thermotropic polyester/polyaniline (PIn/PAni) blends have been prepared by solution blend of synthesized liquid crystalline poly[4,4′‐bis (ω‐alkoxy) biphenylisophthalate]s having four and six methylene units in spacer (PI4 and PI6) with PAni doped with camphorsolfonic acid (CSA). The percolation threshold electroactivity of prepared blend films has been determined by cyclic voltammetry. The effect of the PAni concentration, solvent nature and polyester structure on the electroactivity of the blends has been investigated. The extremely low percolation threshold of prepared PIn/PAni‐CSA blends from dimethylformamide (DMF) and m‐cresol solution was 3% weight of PAni‐CSA. The amount of conducting polymer necessary to retard the formation of the liquid crystalline (LC) phase is up to 45% by weight. Phase behavior studies by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing microscopy show that blends with 45% of conducting polymer are both liquid crystal and conductive. The morphology of the blends has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New functionalized polyesters to achieve controlled architectures

Following our continued interest in the production of bioerodible and biodegradable functional polymers for biomedical applications, we synthesized and characterized new unsaturated polyesters. The presence of functional groups in the polymer backbone provided sites for chemical modification, and through a variation in the structure, the physical properties, such as the hydrophilicity and solubility, could be affected. With 1,1-di-n-butyl-stanna-2,7-dioxacyclo-4-heptene as the initiator in the ring-opening polymerization of polyesters, a new set of functionalized polyesters was created. The polymerization of ϵ-caprolactone resulted in poly(ϵ-caprolactone) with a double bond incorporated into the structure. The polymers were obtained in a controlled manner with low molecular dispersities. The double bond was previously incorporated into L -lactide polymers, and the two reactions were compared in this study. The conversion of ϵ-caprolactone, with a degree of polymerization of 50, was completed within 140 min, whereas for L -lactide, only a 45% conversion took place in the same period of time. The dispersities were somewhat higher with ϵ-caprolactone because of the higher reaction rate and, therefore, lower selectivity. The incorporated CC double bond in the polyesters provided a variety of opportunities for further modifications. In this case, the double bond of the L -lactide macromonomers was oxidized into epoxides. Epoxidation was carried out with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid as a chemical reagent. The conversion of the double bonds into epoxides was completed, and the obtained yields were good (>95%). As a result of the mild reaction conditions, the epoxidation of the double bond was carried out quantitatively without any side reactions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 444–452, 2004     

Synthesis and Characterization of New Unsaturated Polyesters Containing 4‐Phenylcyclohexanone Moiety in the Main Chain

Two series of new unsaturated polyesters were prepared from 2,6‐bis(p‐hydroxidebenzylidene)‐4‐phenylcyclohexanone (I) and 2,6‐divanillyidene‐4‐phenylcyclohexanone (II) with adipoyl, isophthaloyl, sebacoyl and terephthaloyl dichlorides utilizing the interfacial polycondensation technique at ambient temperature. In addition to that, the model compounds were synthesized by reacting (I) and (II) with benzoyl chloride. The model compound and polyester samples have been characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. The unsaturated polyesters have inherent viscosities of 0.96–1.63 dl/g. All the polyesters are amorphous and most of them are partially soluble in most common organic solvents, but easily soluble in concentrated sulfuric acid. Their glass transition temperatures (T_g) range from190.15 to 245.28°C, and the temperatures of 10% weight loss as high as 180 to 220°C in air, indicating that these aromatic polyesters have high T_g and excellent thermal stability.     

Kinetic study of polyesterification: Unsaturated polyesters

Synthesis of unsaturated polyesters using adipic acid, ethylene glycol, and fumaric acid in the absence and presence of a foreign acid (phosphoric acid) as catalyst was carried out by a two-stage method under constant reaction temperatures of 160–180°C and at different ratios of diol to diacid. The experimental data fit the Chen–Wu rate equations for self-catalyzed and acid-catalyzed reactions. The reaction rate constants and activation energies for both systems were calculated. The rate constants of fumaric acid–ethylene glycol systems were found to be nearly constant and had negligible variations with increasing chain length of polymer. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Design and Synthesis of Aromatic Polyesters Bearing Pendant Clickable Maleimide Groups

A bisphenol bearing pendant maleimide group, namely, N‐maleimidoethyl‐3, 3‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐1‐isobenzopyrrolidone (PPH‐MA) was synthesized starting from phenolphthalein. Aromatic (co)polyesters bearing pendant maleimide groups were synthesized from PPH‐MA and aromatic diacid chlorides, namely, isophthaloyl chloride (IPC), terephthaloyl chloride (TPC), and 50:50 mol % mixture of IPC and TPC by low temperature solution polycondensation technique. Copolyesters were also synthesized by polycondensation of different molar proportions of PPH‐MA and bisphenol A with IPC. Inherent viscosities and number‐average molecular weights of aromatic (co)polyesters were in the range of 0.52–0.97 dL/g and 20,200–32,800 g/mol, respectively indicating formation of medium to reasonably high‐molecular‐weight polymers. ¹³C NMR spectral analysis of copolyesters revealed the formation of random copolymers. The 10% weight loss temperature of (co)polyesters was found in the range 470–484 °C, indicating their good thermal stability. A selected aromatic polyester bearing pendant maleimide groups was chemically modified via thiol‐maleimide Michael addition reaction with two representative thiol compounds, namely, 4‐chlorothiophenol and 1‐adamantanethiol to yield post‐modified polymers in a quantitative manner. Additionally, it was demonstrated that polyester containing pendant maleimide groups could be used to form insoluble crosslinked gel in the presence of a multifunctional thiol crosslinker. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 630–640     

Analysis of the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics in three linear aromatic polyester systems

Melt or cold crystallization kinetics has a strong bearing on morphology and the extent of crystallization, which significantly affects the physical properties of polymeric materials. Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics are often analyzed by the classical Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) model or one of its variants, even though they are based on an isothermal assumption. As a result, during the nonisothermal (e.g. constant heating or cooling rate) crystallization of polymeric material, different sets of model parameters are required to describe crystallization at different rates, thereby increasing the total number of model parameters. In addition, due to the uncorrelated nature of these model parameters with the cooling or heating rate, accurate modeling at any intermediate condition is not possible. In the present work, these two limitations of the conventional approach have been eliminated by exhibiting the existence of a functional relationship between cooling or heating rate and effective activation energy during nonisothermal melt or cold crystallization in three linear aromatic polyesters. Furthermore, it has been shown that when the JMAK model is used in conjunction with this functional relationship, it is possible to precisely predict the experimental nonisothermal melt or cold crystallization kinetics at any linear cooling or heating rate with a single set of model parameters.     

Ring-expansion polycondensation of 2-stanna-1,3-dioxepane (or 1,3-dioxepene) with dicarboxylic acid chlorides

2,2-Dibutyl-2-stanna-1,3-dioxepane 1 (or 1,3-dioxepene 2) were prepared from 1,4-butane (or 1,4-butene) diol and dibutyltin dimethoxide. They were polycondensed at 80°C in n-heptane with adipoyl-, suberoyl, sabacoyl chloride and with decane-1,10-dicarbonyl chloride. In the case of suberoyl chloride and 2,2-dibutyl-2-stanna-1,3-dioxepane reaction time, temperature and stoichiometry were varied to optimize both the molecular weight and the fraction of cyclic polyesters. With a slight excess of the dicarboxylic acid chlorides, only macrocyclic polyesters were obtained in all cases. The resulting cyclic polyesters were characterized by viscosity measurements, by ¹H and ¹³C NMR and by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.     

Thermal Stability and Degradation Mechanism for Two Main-Chain Liquid Crystal Polyesters a TG-MS Study

The thermal stabilities of two thermotropic liquid crystal polyesters were analysed by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TG), as a function of the chemical structure of the aliphatic spacer between the aromatic-triad mesogenic units. TG was combined with mass spectrometry to confirm that the degradation mechanism previously observed in a Fourier transform infrared study of the degrading polymers follows a β-cis-elimination process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.