Studies in Cyclocopolymerization. X. Cyclocopolymerization of Tetrahydronaphthoquinone and Dimethyl Tetrahydronaphthoquinone with Divinyl Ether

Abstract

Tetrahydronaphthoquinone (THNQ) and dimethyl tetrahydronaphthoquinone (DMTHNQ) were found by UV spectroscopy to form donor-acceptor complexes with divinyl ether (DVE), the latter being the electron donor. Since the participation of such complexed species has been considered in the cyclocopolymerization of a 1,4-diene with a monoolefin such as DVE-maleic anhydride (MA) and DVE-fumaronitrile (FN) systems, radical copolymerization of THNQ and DMTHNQ with DVE was studied. It was found that these copolymers have constant 1:1 composition regardless of the feed composition. The terpolymerization of DVE-THNQ-DMTHNQ confirmed the 1:1 donor-acceptor composition in the polymer. The integration of the NMR spectrum was used in determining the copolymer composition. The spectroscopic data suggest a cyclized repeating unit in which the copolymer main chain consists of only DVE units. There is a marked difference between these copolymers and the typical cyclo-copolymers, such as DVE-MA and DVE-FN, in which the copolymer main chains consist of DVE and the comonomer alternately, with the overall composition being 1:2. These results are interpreted in terms of the steric effect by the bulky acceptor monomers and the electronic interaction between the comonomers. The competition between an acceptor monomer and the charge-transfer (CT) complex toward the cyclized DVE radical in the propagation step appears to favor the CT complex.