Preparation of macromonomers by copolymerization of methyl acrylate dimer involving β fragmentation

The unsaturated dimer of methyl acrylate [CH₂C(CO₂CH₃)CH₂CH₂CO₂CH₃, or MAD] was copolymerized with various monomers to prepare copolymers bearing the ω-unsaturated end group [CH₂C(CO₂CH₃)CH₂ ] arising from β fragmentation of the MAD propagating radical. Copolymerizations of MAD with cyclohexyl and n-butyl acrylate resulted in copolymers with ω-unsaturated end groups, and increasing the temperature up to 180 °C resulted in an increase in the rate of β fragmentation of MAD radicals relative to propagation. Only a small amount of unsaturated end groups was introduced by copolymerization with ethyl methacrylate (EMA), and the EMA content in the copolymer increased with temperature. These findings could be explained by the reversible addition of the poly(EMA) radical to MAD. The copolymerization with ethyl α-ethyl acrylate (EEA) did yield a copolymer containing unsaturated end groups with MAD units as part of the main chain, although the steric hindrance of the ethyl group suppressed homopropagation and crosspropagation of EEA, resulting in low polymerization rates. Therefore, the copolymerization of MAD with acrylic esters at high temperatures was noted as a convenient route for obtaining acrylate–MAD copolymers bearing unsaturated end groups at the ω end (macromonomer). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 597–607, 2004     

Comparative behavior of polybutadiene and polynorbornene‐based latices prepared by dispersion ring‐opening metathesis polymerization with a poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomer

This study critically examines the similarities and differences between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) stabilized latices of polynorbornene and polybutadiene. Features such as the kinetics of copolymerization of norbornene and cyclooctadiene with a macromonomer of PEO, the particles' size and morphology, the type of copolymer formed, and the stability of these latices were investigated and the results obtained are considered. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2705–2716, 2004     

Novel acrylic macromonomer with amphiphilic character derived from Triton X‐100: Radical copolymerization with methyl methacrylate and thermal properties

This article explores the synthesis of a novel methacrylic macromonomer with an amphiphilic character derived from poly(ethylene glycol) tert‐octylphenyl ether (MT) and its respective homopolymer. To know their reactivity in radical copolymerization reactions with methyl methacrylate (MMA), a model monomer (MTm) was synthesized to determine the reactivity ratios and compare them with the low molar fractions of copolymers of MT with MMA because they were difficult to isolate. They were r_MTm = 0.97 and r_MMA = 0.95. The compositional diagrams when representing the weight fraction of MT and MTm in the feed and the copolymer suggested that a clear correlation exists between the experimental points of the model monomer MTm and the macromonomer MT ones, suggesting that the length of the side poly(ethylene oxide) chain does not affect the reactivity of the methacrylic double bond in the prepared monomers for this type of polymerization reaction. The reactivity ratios of the copolymers have a tendency for the formation of random or Bernoullian copolymers. The glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the prepared copolymers were determined by differential scanning calorimetry, deviated from the Fox equation, and discussed on the basis of treatments that consider the influence of the monomeric units along the copolymer chains, determining the T_g of the corresponding alternating dyads. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1641–1649, 2003     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(ethylene oxide‐co‐ethylene carbonate) macromonomers and their use in the preparation of crosslinked polymer electrolytes

Methacrylate‐functionalized poly(ethylene oxide‐co‐ethylene carbonate) macromonomers were prepared in two steps by the anionic ring‐opening polymerization of ethylene carbonate at 180 °C, with potassium methoxide as the initiator, followed by the reaction of the terminal hydroxyl groups of the polymers with methacryloyl chloride. The molecular weight of the polymer went through a maximum after approximately 45 min of polymerization, and the content of ethylene carbonate units in the polymer decreased with the reaction time. A polymer having a number‐average molecular weight of 2650 g mol^?1 and an ethylene carbonate content of 28 mol % was selected and used to prepare a macromonomer, which was subsequently polymerized by UV irradiation in the presence of different concentrations of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide salt. The resulting self‐supportive crosslinked polymer electrolyte membranes reached ionic conductivities of 6.3 × 10^?6 S cm^?1 at 20 °C. The coordination of the lithium ions by both the ether and carbonate oxygens in the polymer structure was indicated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2195–2205, 2006     

Continuous reaction system to investigate the dispersion polymerization of vinyl monomers in supercritical carbon dioxide

A laboratory‐scale continuous reaction system using a stirred tank reactor was assembled in our laboratory to study the dispersion polymerization of vinyl monomers in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂). The apparatus was equipped with a suitable downstream separation section to collect solid particles entrained in the effluent stream from the reactor, whose monomer concentration could be measured online with a gas chromatograph. The dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate in scCO₂ was selected as a model process to be investigated in the apparatus. The experiments were performed at 65 °C and 25 MPa with 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator and a reactive polysiloxane macromonomer as a surfactant to investigate the effect of the mean residence time of the reaction mixture on the monomer conversion, polymerization rate, polymer molecular weight, and particle size distribution. The results were compared with those obtained in batch polymerizations carried out under similar operative conditions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4122–4135, 2006     

Fluoropolyethers end‐capped by polar functional groups. III. Kinetics of the reactions of hydroxy‐terminated fluoropolyethers and model fluorinated alcohols with cyclohexyl isocyanate catalyzed by organotin compounds

The kinetics of the dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL)‐catalyzed urethane formation reactions of cyclohexyl isocyanate (CHI) with model monofunctional fluorinated alcohols and fluoropolyether diol Z‐DOL H‐1000 of various molecular weights (100–1084 g mol^?1) in different solvents were studied. IR spectroscopy and chemical titration methods were used for measuring the rate of the total NCO disappearance at 30–60 °C. The effects of the reagents and DBTDL catalyst concentrations, the solvent and hydroxyl‐containing compound nature, and the temperature on the reaction rate and mechanism were investigated. Depending on the initial reagent concentration and solvent, the reactions could be well described by zero‐order, first‐order, second‐order, or more complex equations. The reaction mechanism, including the formation of intermediate ternary or binary complexes of reagents with the tin catalyst, could vary with the concentration and solvent and even during the reaction. The results were treated with a rate expression analogous to those used for enzymatic reactions. Under the explored conditions, the rate of the uncatalyzed reaction of fluorinated alcohols with CHI was negligible. Moreover, there was no allophanate formation, nor were there other side reactions, catalysis by urethane in the absence of DBTDL, or a synergetic effect in the presence of the tin catalyst. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3771–3795, 2002     

Hydrophilic core-shell microspheres: a suitable support for controlled attachment of proteins and biomedical diagnostics

Functional hydrophilic microspheres (latex particles) have found various applications in life sciences and in medicine - particularly in latex diagnostic tests. This paper presents a comprehensive review of studies on latex particles with a hydrophilic interfacial layer composed of various hydrophilic polymers with reactive groups at the ends of macromolecules or at each monomeric unit along the chain. Typical examples of these hydrophilic polymers are poly(2-hydroxyethyl methyl methacrylate), poly(acrylic acid), poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide), polysaccharides, poly(ethylene oxide) and polyglycidol. Hydrophilic microspheres with different morphologies (uniform or core-shell, see Figure) have been synthesized by emulsion and dispersion polymerizations. The chemical structure of polymers which constitute the interfacial layer of microspheres has been investigated using a variety of instrumental techniques (such as XPS, SSIMS and NMR) and analytical methods based on specific chemical reactions suitable for the determination of particular functional groups. Microspheres are exposed to contact with proteins in the majority of medical applications. This paper presents examples of studies on the attachment of these biomacromolecules to microspheres. The relation between the structure of the interfacial layer of microspheres and the ability of these particles for the covalent binding of proteins is discussed. Several examples of diagnostic tests, in which hydrophilic microspheres with adsorbed or covalently immobilized proteins were used as reagents, are presented. The paper also contains a short review of the application of magnetic hydrophilic particles for protein separation. Examples of hydrophilic latex particles used for hemoperfusion or heavy metal ion separation are presented. Hydrophilic microspheres with uniform or core-shell morphologies.     

Rigid-rod polymers with polysiloxane side chains. I. Synthesis and characterization of rigid-rod polyimides with polysiloxane side chains and their compatibility with linear polysiloxanes

Rigid-rod aromatic polyimdies having polydimethylsiloxane side chains were prepared for the purpose of dispersing rigid-rod molecules in silicone matrices for molecular reinforcement. The polyimides were obtained by imidizing the polyamide-acids bearing the side chains either thermally or chemically, which were synthesized by reacting 4,4′-diaminobiphenyl-terminated polysiloxane macromonomers with pyromellitic dianhydride in THF. The polyamide-acid films obtained by removing the solvent were soluble in THF, but the polyimides were insoluble in any common solvent. The polyimides showed no melting transition below 350°C on DSC analysis, at which temperature the side chain started decomposing. Although all the polyimides were anisotropic as observed by a polarizing microscope, x-ray diffraction analysis suggested the presence of only limited chain organization. Blends with linear polydimethylsiloxanes were prepared by casting the THF solution containing the polyamide-acid and the polydimethylsiloxane, followed by solvent evaporation and thermal imidization. With relatively longer side chains, the polyimides were proved to be compatibilized with polydimethylsiloxanes. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Diffusion coefficients of the monomer and oligomers in hydroxyethyl methacrylate

The diffusion coefficients are reported of rubbery ternary systems consisting of the polymer, its monomer analogue (i.e., the saturated equivalent of the monomer), and trace quantities of oligomers (dimer, trimer, tetramer and hexamer) for 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). These have been obtained with pulsed‐field‐gradient NMR spectroscopy with a polymer weight fraction (f_p) of 0 ≤ f_p ≤ 0.4. The oligomers are macromonomers synthesized with a cobalt catalytic chain‐transfer agent. The diffusion coefficients are about an order of magnitude smaller than those for monomers such as methyl methacrylate; this effect is ascribed to hydrogen bonding in HEMA. The diffusion coefficient D_i of an i‐meric oligomer has been fitted with moderate accuracy by an empirical universal scaling relation, D_i(f_p)/D₁(f_p) ≈ i, previously found to provide an adequate fit to corresponding data for styrene and for methyl and butyl methacrylates. The approximate empirical scaling relation seems to hold for a remarkably wide range of types of monomer/polymer systems. These results are of use in modeling rates and molecular weight distributions in free‐radical polymerization, particularly for termination (which is chain‐length‐dependent and is controlled by the diffusion coefficient of chains of the low degrees of polymerization studied here). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2491–2501, 2003     

Synthesis of comb‐shaped poly(methyl methacrylate)‐b‐poly(polytetrahydrofuran acrylate) under 60Co γ‐ray irradiation

Comb‐shaped graft copolymers with poly(methyl methacrylate) as a handle were synthesized by the macromonomer technique in two steps. First, polytetrahydrofuran acrylate (A‐PTHF), prepared by the living cationic ring‐opening polymerization of tetrahydrofuran, underwent homopolymerization with 1‐(ethoxycarbonyl)prop‐1‐yl dithiobenzoate as an initiator under ⁶⁰Co γ irradiation at room temperature; Second, the handle of the comb‐shaped copolymers was prepared by the block copolymerization of methyl methacrylate with P(A‐PTHF) as a macroinitiator under ⁶⁰Co γ irradiation. The two‐step polymerizations were proved to be controlled with the following evidence: the straight line of ln[M]₀/[M] versus the polymerization time, the linear increase in the number‐average molecular weight with the conversion, and the relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. The structures of the P(A‐PTHF) and final comb‐shaped copolymers were characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3367–3378, 2002