Synthesis of new thermosetting poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide)s containing epoxide pendant groups

A new class of thermosetting poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide)s containing pendant epoxide groups were synthesized and characterized. These new epoxy polymers were prepared through the bromination of poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) in halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons followed by a Wittig reaction to yield vinyl‐substituted polymer derivatives. The treatment of the vinyl‐substituted polymers with m‐chloroperbenzoic acid led to the formation of epoxidized poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) with variable pendant ratios, and the structures and properties were studied with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and gel permeation chromatography. The ratios of pendant functional groups were tailored for the polymer properties, and the results showed that the glass‐transition temperatures increased as the benzylic protons were replaced by bromo‐, vinyl‐, or epoxide‐functional groups, whereas the thermal stability decreased in comparison with the original polymer. Within a molar fraction of 20–50%, the degree of functionalization had little effect on the glass‐transition temperature; however, it correlated inversely with the thermal stability of each functionalized polymer. The thermal curing behavior of the epoxide‐functionalized polymer was enhanced by the increment of the pendant functionality, which resulted in a significant increase in the glass‐transition temperature as well as the thermal stability after the curing reaction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5875–5886, 2006     

Mass spectrometric analysis of low molecular mass polyesters by laser desorption/ionization on porous silicon

A low molecular mass polyester was analyzed by desorption/ionization on porous silicon (DIOS) mass spectrometry. The results were compared with those of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry using matrixes of alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) and 10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (F20TPP). The CHCA matrix was not suitable for characterization of low molecular mass components of the polyester because the matrix-related ions interfered with the component ions. On the other hand, the F20TPP matrix showed no interference because no matrix-related ions appeared below m/z 822. However, the solvent selection for determining optimal conditions of sample preparation was limited, because F20TPP does not dissolve readily in any of the available organic solvents. In the DIOS spectra, the polymer ions were observed at high sensitivity without a contaminating ion. No matrix is needed for DIOS spectra of low molecular mass polyesters, facilitating sample preparation and selectivity of a precursor ion in post-source decay measurements.     

含偶氮苯的咔唑类双功能光折变聚合物的合成及表征

通过后重氮偶合方法制备了一系列不同生色团含量的咔唑类双功能光折变聚合物，并用IR、^1H-NMR、UV-vis、DSC以及GPC等对聚合物进行了分析和表征。IR和UV-vis谱图显示偶氮苯基团已接到咔唑环上。UV-vis结果表明：反应时间对该反应的影响非常大，当反应时间从6h增加到60h时，聚合物中生色团的含量从13.5%升高到66.7%。GPC结果显示后重氮偶合法比常规方法得到的该类聚合物的分子量明显提高。DSC结果显示聚合物的玻璃化转变温度随偶氮苯含量的增加而升高。     

Large electro‐optic activity and enhanced temporal stability of methacrylate‐based crosslinking hyperbranched nonlinear optical polymer

A methacrylate‐based crosslinking hyperbranced polymers have been synthesized through initiator‐fragment incorporation radical polymerization and used for the temperature stable electro‐optic (EO) polymer application. This polymer consists of methyl methacrylate, 2‐metacryloxyethyl isocyanate, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) monomers. The use of EGDMA as a bifunctional unit resulted in the solvent‐soluble crosslinking hyperbranched chain, so that the EO polymer enhanced glass transition temperatures. A phenyl vinylene thiophene vinylene bridge nonlinear optical chromophore was attached to the polymer backbone as the side‐chain by a post‐functionalization reaction. The loading concentration of the chromophore was varied between 30 and 50 wt % by simply changing the mixing ratio of the precursor polymer to the chromophore. The synthesized EO polymers produced optical quality films with a light propagation loss of 0.61 dB/cm in a slab waveguide at 1.31 μm. The electrically poled film had an EO coefficient (r₃₃) of 139 pm/V at 1.31 μm. The EO crosslinking hyperbranced polymer had a high‐glass transition temperature of 170 °C, and exhibited excellent temporal stability of the EO activity at 85 °C for 500 h. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Activation of stable polymeric esters by using organo‐activated acyl transfer reactions

In this study, we succeeded in the in situ activation of nonactivated ester moieties embedded in polymer structures. Although poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate) (PPFPMA) can react with 2‐ethylhexylamine at 50 °C in the presence of proton scavenger such as NEt₃, such conditions were not suitable for poly(phenyl methacrylate) (PPhMA). Nevertheless, the combination of organo‐activating agents, namely 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) and 1,2,4‐triazole (TZ) led to a facile conversion from ester to amide for PPhMA. The reaction between PPhMA and 2‐ethylhexylamine was conducted at 120 °C in the presence of one equivalent of TZ and three equivalents of DBU and yielded >99% ester conversion to afford corresponding polymethacrylamide derivatives as confirmed by FT‐IR and ¹H NMR measurements. In addition, poly(2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (PTFEMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were also allowed to react with amines in the presence of the organo‐activating agents with dramatically increased conversions (>70%). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1353–1358     

Reactive polymer zwitterions: Sulfonium sulfonates

Sulfonium sulfonate, or sulfothetin, zwitterionic monomers were synthesized by ring‐opening of 1,3‐propanesultone with dialkyl sulfides containing styrenic or methacrylic moieties. Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization of these monomers was achieved in water or trifluoroethanol, and the resulting polymers exhibited higher upper critical solution temperatures than the analogous sulfobetaine polymers. Unlike typical polymer zwitterions, these polymeric sulfothetins possess an inherent reactivity that proved tunable based on their chemical structures. This reactivity makes them amenable to post‐polymerization modification by nucleophilic dealkylation to rapidly access novel substituted polymers and gels. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 83–92     

Probing molecular environments with a fictitious isotopic dipole

A HD-like (HD: mono-deuterated hydrogen molecule) isotopic dipole moment is proposed as a sensible probe for molecular environments, in particular for electrostatic fields and polarizable (reactive) sites of molecules. Fictitious nuclear masses are chosen in order to yield a rigid dipole with a small appropriate magnitude. Upon subtracting the Born-Oppenheimer energy, the interaction is reduced to field-dipole-like and dipole-polarizability-like terms, the last one being particularly informative since connected to potentially reactive sites. Possible asymmetries of this term appear as signatures of charged sites in the molecule. The field strength and orientation are easily obtained by identifying the minimum field-dipole energy configuration and flipping the dipole from it. Tests with hydrogen, water, benzene, and chlorobenzene molecules confirm the good performance of the method. In an application to test the present models for hydrogen activation by a frustrated Lewis pair, the full potential of the method is assessed.