Spectral and chemical monitoring of cyclo-addition reaction of CO2 with poly(MMA-co-GMA) copolymers

This paper deals with the monitoring cyclo-addition of CO₂ to methyl methacrylate (MMA)-glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) copolymers using spectral (¹H-NMR and FTIR) and chemical (elemental analysis and titration) methods. Thus, poly(MMA-co-GMA), was first prepared via solution polymerization. The copolymer was then treated with CO₂ gas flow in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammoniumbromide as a catalyst. In terms of the carbonation reaction time, the terpolymer poly(MMA-co-GMA-co-2-oxo-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl-methyl methacrylate) was prepared in various yield of CO₂ fixation (> 90%). The peak intensity changes in the ¹H-NMR and FTIR spectra provided excellent demonstrative techniques to monitor the carbonation reaction progression. In a comparative analytical viewpoint, the NMR and elemental analysis were recognized to be the most accurate ways to follow the cyclo-addition reaction progression. However, titration was recognized to be the most preferred method, because it is a very inexpensive, facile and available method with a reasonable costaccuracy balance.