Polyaddition reactions of bisethyleneureas and 1,1,3,3-diethyleneurea with polymethylene dimercaptans in LiCl-dimethylformamide

Polyaddition reactions of 1,1′-tetramethylenebis(3,3-ethyleneurea) (IIa), 1,1′-octamethylenebis(3,3-ethyleneurea) (IIb), 1,1′-p-phenylenebis(3,3-ethyleneurea) (IIc), 1,1′-(4,4′-diphenylmethane)bis(3,3-ethyleneurea) (IId) and 1,1,3,3-diethyleneurea (III) with polymethylene dimercaptans were investigated. 1,1′-Polymethylenebis(3,3-ethyleneureas) and polymethylene dimercaptans successfully reacted at 80–95°C. in the presence of triethylamine to give poly(urea sulfides) with intrinsic viscosities up to 1.1 in about 90% yield when dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, or N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone containing lithium chloride as a solvent were used. The other ethyleneureas, however, failed to give high molecular weight polymers.