A pH‐responsive cyclopolymer having phospho‐ and sulfopropyl pendents in the same repeating unit: Synthesis,characterization, and its application as an antiscalant

A new zwitterionic monomer 3‐diallyl{3‐(diethoxyphosphoryl)propyl}ammonio]propane‐1‐sulfonate has been synthesized and cyclopolymerized to give the corresponding polyzwitterion (±) (PZ) bearing both phosphonate and sulfonate functionalities on each repeating unit. phosphonate ester hydrolysis in PZ gave a pH‐responsive dibasic polyzwitterionic acid (±) (PZA) bearing ? PO₃H₂ units. The PZA under pH‐induced transformation was converted into polyzwitterion/anion (± ?) (PZAN) and polyzwitterion/dianion (± =) (PZDAN) having respective ? PO₃H^? and ? PO₃^2? units. The polymers′ interesting solubility and viscosity behaviors have been investigated in detail. The apparent protonation constants in salt‐free water and 0.1 M NaCl of the ? PO₃^2? in (± =) (PZDAN) and ? PO₃H^– in (± ?) (PZAN) as well as in their corresponding monomeric units have been determined. Evaluation of antiscaling properties of the PZA using supersaturated solution of CaSO₄ revealed ≈100% scale inhibition efficiency at a meager concentration of 20 ppm for a duration of 45 h at 40 °C. The PZA has the potential to be used effectively as an antiscalant in reverse osmosis plant. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5130–5142