An Improved Synthetic Method for Preparing Polyoxyethylene Macromers and a Study of Their Copolymerization with Alkyl Acrylates

Polyoxyethylene macromers were synthesized by polymerization of ethylene oxide in dimethylsulfoxide by using potassium napthalide in tetrahydrofuran as initiator, followed by termination with methacroyl chloride. Potassium naphthalide is more active as an initiator than sodium naphthalide. The initiator in this case was confirmed to be of the monoanionic type. The molecular weight of the macromers can be varied from 2 × 10³ to 1.2 × 10⁴with M_w/M_n = 1.07-1.12. The macromers were characterized by UV, IR, and ¹H NMR, and copolymerized with butyl acrylate, methyl acrylate, or methyl methacrylate. The grafting efficiency can reach about 90%. The graft copolymers were purified by extractions and characterized by GPC, IR, and a Bruss membrane osmometer. The average grafting number of the copolymers varied from 10 to 15.