Cationic polyelectrolytes. III. Nitrile-group reaction of macromolecular compounds with N,N-dialkylaminoalkylamines

The chemical reaction in aqueous medium of polyacrylonitrile and acrylonitrile–vinyl acetate co-polymer using asymmetrical diamines of H₂N? (CH₂)_m? NR₂ (m = 2,3) structure was studied. It was found that the nitrile group is modified to an dialkylaminoalkylacrylamide group; also determined were the reaction conditions required to obtain the highest degree of chemical transformation of the nitrile groups. All modified compounds were characterized by analytical spectroscopy (IR and ¹H NMR) and by rheological methods. It was also established that glutaronitrile can be used as a low-molecular-weight model to study the chemical transformation of nitrile groups in polyacrylonitrile and related polymers.