Phospha‐Michael addition to enone‐containing triglyceride derivatives as an efficient route to flame retardant renewable thermosets

A novel phosphorus‐containing vegetable oil (PETR) was prepared through phospha‐Michael addition of a diphenyl phosphine oxide to the enone derivative of high‐oleic sunflower oil (ETR). The reaction was investigated using the enone derivative of methyl oleate under conventional thermal heating and microwave irradiation. The kinetic study showed a great enhancement of reaction rate for the microwave‐initiated addition. The crosslinking of ETR with diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) via aza‐Michael addition was also investigated under microwave irradiation, showing a noticeable acceleration of the curing. The new phosphorus‐containing triglyceride was crosslinked with DDM to obtain phosphorus‐containing vegetable oil‐based thermosets of different phosphorus contents. Limiting oxygen index values from 26.4 to 35.0 for the final materials were obtained, demonstrating that the flame retardant properties of vegetable oil‐based thermosets can be improved by adding covalently bonded phosphorus to the polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012