Effect of solvent on the initiation mechanism of living anionic polymerization of styrene:A computational study

For living anionic polymerization(LAP),solvent has a great influence on both reaction mechanism and kinetics.In this work,by using the classical butyl lithium-styrene polymerization as a model system,the effect of solvent on the mechanism and kinetics of LAP was revealed through a strategy combining density functional theory(DFT)calculations and kinetic modeling.In terms of mechanism,it is found that the stronger the solvent polarity,the more electrons transfer from initiator to solvent through detailed energy decomposition analysis of electrostatic interactions between initiator and solvent molecules.Furthermore,we also found that the stronger the solvent polarity,the higher the monomer initiation energy barrier and the smaller the initiation rate coefficient.Counterintuitively,initiation is more favorable at lower temperatures based on the calculated results ofΔG_(TS).Finally,the kinetic characteristics in different solvents were further examined by kinetic modeling.It is found that in benzene and n-pentane,the polymerization rate exhibits first-order kinetics.While,slow initiation and fast propagation were observed in tetrahydrofuran(THF)due to the slow free ion formation rate,leading to a deviation from first-order kinetics.

Benzoylformamides as new photocaged bases for photo-latent anion polymerization

Benzoylfonnamide（BFA） derivatives are proposed as new photocagcd bases with good solubility in epoxy resin.Initially their structures were confirmed by ~1H NMR,^（13）C NMR,and elemental analysis.Next,we detail their thermal stability,solubility behavior,and photolysis products.Furthermore,the model photo-latent anion polymerization（AP） of epoxide system in the presence of BFA-dBA（N,N-dibenzyl-2-oxo-2-phenylacetamide） as a photocaged base has been investigated,and excellent photopolymerization profile is obtained.

The Kinetic Study on the Anionic Polymerization of Isoprene

The kinetic study of the anionic polymerization of isoprene is carried out in tetrahy-drofuran(THF), using n-BuLi as initiator. Kinetic parameters are obtained, which comprise chain propagation rate constant, kp, and partial rate constants, k3 and k4 + k5, propagation orders with respect to monomer and active species concentrations, α and β, real activation energy, E, as well as partial activation energies, E3 and E4+5 and so on. The relationship between the microstruc-ture of polyisoprene and the ratio of [THF]/[n-BuLi] has been investigated. On the basis of the studies mentioned above, a reasonable mechanism of the anionic polymerization of isoprene in THF is proposed.

Synthesis and Characterization of Star-branched Polyisobutylene by Combination of Anionic Polymerization and Cationic Polymerization

A star-shaped multifunctional styrene-isoprene copolymer was synthesized with n-BuLi as initiator, divinyl benzene as coupling agent, cyclobexane as solvent by living anionic polymerization. Using this polymer as grafting agent, a novel star-shaped branched polymer, containing several polyisobutylene, was prepared via cationic ~aolymerization. The star PS-b-PI and star-branched polyisobutylene were characterized by GPC, ＇HNMR and FT-IR, and the effects of different adding order and the amount of grafting agent were investigated.

Lithium Camphor initiated Anionic Polymerization of C_(60) and Styrene

A simple new method for the syntheses of a highly soluble noncross linked C 60 styrene copolymers by means of lithium camphor initiated anionic polymerization reaction is demonstrated.

TRANSAMIDATION IN THE in situ BLENDING OF POLYAMIDE 1212 WITH POLYAMIDE 6 THROUGH ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION OF CAPROLACTAM

20 wt% polyamide 12 （PA1212） pellets were dissolved in molten caprolactam. The caprolactam was then catalyzed at 180℃ and polymerized by means of anionic ring-opening polymerization to produce in situ blends of the resultant polyamide 6 （PA6） and PA 1212. Mechanical blends with same ingredient were prepared through melt blending on a twin-screw extruder. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） observation revealed that contrary to the mechanical blends with small spherulites embedded in the matrix, no phase-separation existed in the in situ blends. The results of thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） showed that single melting peak and crystallization peak existed for the in situ blends, while two melting and crystallization peaks appeared for the mechanical blends. The in situ blend film and the mixed blend film, both cast from a dilute formic acid solution with a concentration of 0.5 g/L, remained similar crystallization and melting behavior as above. It is proved by solution 13C-NMR analysis that transamidation took place during the in situ blending, and it is suggested that the combination of temperature increasing and the basic surrounding derived from NaOH during polymerization resulted in the occurrence of transamidation. Furthermore, it is proposed that the interchange reaction between PA 1212 and PA6 also resulted from the degradative reaction during the anionic polymerization.

ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION OF ALKYL METHACRYLATES INITIATED BY nBuCu(NCy_2)Li

Anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA), n-butyl methacrylate (nBMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) initiated by nBuCu(NCy2)Li (1) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at -50 degrees C to -10 degrees C was investigated. It was found that the polymerization of MMA and nBMA initiated by 1 proceeded quantitatively in THF to afford PMMA and PBMA with polydispersity index 1.15-1.30 and nearly 100% initiator efficiencies at -10 degrees C. The molecular weights increased linearly with the ratio of [monomer]/[1]. However, a post-polymerization experiment carried out on this system revealed a double polymer peak by GPC when fresh monomer was added after an interval of 10 min. Polymerization of styrene could be initiated by 1, but the initiator efficiency was low.

SYNTHESIS AND ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION OF 2-METHYL-2-METHOXY CARBONYL-5-METHYLENE-1, 3-DIOXOLAN-4-ONE

A new cyclic monomer, 2-methyl-2-methocycarbonyl-5-methylene 1,3-dioxlan-4-one,wassynthesized successfully. The monomer and intermediate were characterized by ~1H NMR,^(13)C NMR, INEPT (Intensive Nuclei Enhanced by Polarization Transfer) technique, IR andelemental analysis. Anionic polymerization of the monomer was carried out in anhydrous THF at.70℃, and 9-fluorenyllithium was used as initiator. The polymer strucure was determined byIR, NMR and elemental analysis. Molecular weight of the polymer was estimated by viscositymeasurement in DMSO at 30℃.

SYTHESIS AND ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION OF 2-METHYL-2-METHOXYCARBONYL-5-METHYLENE-1, 3-DIOXOLAN-4-ONE

A new cyclic monomer, 2-methyl-2-methoxycarbonyl-5-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-4-one,was synthesized successfully. The monomer and intermediate were characterized by ~1H NMR, ^(13)CNMR, INEPT(Intensive Nuclei Enhanced by Polarization Transfer) technique, IR and elementalanalysis. Anionic polymerization of the monomer was carried out in anhydrous THF at -70℃,and 9-fluorenyllithium was used as initiator. The polymer structure was determined by IR, NMRand elemental analysis. Molecular weight of the polymer was estimated by viscosity measurementin DMSO at 30℃.

SYNTHESIS OF CHIRAL BINAPHTHYL CROWN ETHERS AND THEIR USE IN ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATE AS INITIATOR LIGANDS

Some chiral binaphthyl crown ethers were synthesized. The anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was carried out in the presence of t-BuOK, Ph2CHK or Ph2CHNa (RM), and RM coordination initiator by using chiral binaphthyl crown ethers as ligands, respectively. The results showed that in the former case the PMMA obtained has mainly isotactic structure but without optical activity, while in the later case the PMMA produced predominately has syndiotactic structure also without optical activity.

SYNTHESIS OF BLOCK COPOLYMER BY INTEGRATED LIVING ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION-ATOM TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION(ATRP)

Alpha-trichloroacetoxy terminated polystyrene oligomer (PS-CH2CH2OCOCCl3) and poly-(styrene-b-butadiene) oligomer [P(S-b-B)-CH2CH2OCOCCl3)] were synthesized by living anionic polymeri-zation using n-butyllithium as initiator. Then the PS-CH2CH2OCOCCl3 (PS-Cl-3) or P(S-b-B)-CH2CH2O-COCCl3 (PSB-Cl-3) was used as the macroinitiator in the polymerization of(meth)acrylates in the presence of CuX/bpy. AB diblock and ABC triblock copolymers were prepared by the integrated living anionic polymerization (LAP)-atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The structures of the PSB-Cl-3 and the P(S-b-MMA) were identified by FTIR and H-1-NMR spectrum, respectively. A new way to design block copolymers (the combination of LAP and ATRP) was developed.

Silazyl-Lithiums: A kind of new Initiators for the Anionic Non- equilibrium Ring-opening Polymerization of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D_4)

The initiation reactions in the anionic non-equilibrium polymerization of octamethy- lcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) initiated by silazyllithiums were investigated. It was found that the structure of the substituents on the Si atom had great influences on the initiation activity of silazyllithiums.

POLYMERIZATION OF OCTAMETHYLCYCLOTETRASILOXANE WITH HEXAMETHYLDISILAZYL-LITHIUM AS INITIATOR

This work focused on the anionic polymerization of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D-4, D = Me2SiO2/2) initiated by a new kind of initiator hexamethydisilazyl-lithium (MMNLi). Si-29-NMR spectroscopy and gas chromatography (GC) were used to characterize the polymerization products. The process was accelerated by adding a small amount of high activity monomer D-3 and by raising the polymerization temperature. At the end of polymerization more than 95% of the monomer was converted to polymer and only a very small amount of D-4 and D-5 remained in the polymers.

Crystalline Morphology and Crystallization Characteristics of In-situ Blends of Anionic Polyamide 6 with Noncrystallizable Semiaromatic Polyamide Copolymer

A noncrystallizable semiaromatic polyamide copolymer（NSAP） was dissolved in molten caprolactam, and PA6/ NSAP blends were produced in-situ via the anionic ring-opening polymerization of caprolactam. The presence of a single loss tangent（tanS） peak measured by means of dynamic mechanical analysis（DMA） proves the miscibility between PA6 and NSAP in the blends. It was found that there existed drastic changes in the crystallographic form and crystallization kinetics for the in-situ blends, e.g. , when 20% NSAP was added, nearly all crystallites existed in the ,y form and the crystallization could hardly occur upon cooling even at a rate of 2.5 ℃/min. Moreover, cold crystallization appears during the subsequent heating, and its melting point is 40 ℃ lower than that of the virgin system. On the other hand, the size of the spherulites only decreases modestly. It is suggested that the introduction of irregular stiff segments originated from NSAP into PA6 macromolecule chain, which resulted from transamidation during the polymerization play a dominant role in the drastic change of crystallization kinetics and the resultant morphology of the in-situ blends.

Synthesis of α-Bromine-Terminated Polystyrene Macroinitiator and Its Initiation of MMA Polymerization by ATRP

In the present paper the synthesis of block copolymers via the transformation from living anionic polymerization (LAP) to atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was described. α-Bromine-terminated polystyrenes(PStBr) in the LAP step was prepared by using n-BuLi as initiator, tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the activator, α-methylstyrene (α-MeSt) as the capping group and liquid bromine (Br_2) as the bromating agent. The effects of reaction conditions such as the amounts of α-MeSt, THF, and Br_2 as well as molecular weight of polystyrene on the bromating efficiency (BE) and coupling extent (CE) were examined. The present results show that the yield of PStBr obtained was more than 93. 8% and the coupling reaction was substantially absent. PStBr was further used as the macroinitiator in the polymerization of methyl-methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of copper (I ) halogen and 2, 2' -bipyridine (bpy) complexes. It was found that the molecular weight of the resulted PSt-b-PMMA increased linearly with the increase of the conversion of MMA and the polydispersity was 1. 2-1.6. The structures of PStBr and P(St-b-MMA) were characterized by ~1H NMR spectra.

SYNTHESIS OF A COMB GRAFT COPOLYMER VIA RING OPENING METATHESIS POLYMERIZATION CATALYZED BY SUPPORTED RHUTHENIUM CARBENE COMPLEX

Chloromethyl-2-norbornene was synthesized via Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and allyl chloride using a polymer supported boron trifluoride as the catalyst, and was then lithiated and used to initiate a living anionic polymerization of styrene to prepare a macromonome, 5-polystyryl-2-norbornene NBPS. Comb graft copolymer PNBgPS was synthesized via ring opening metathesis polymerization of the macromonomer under the catalysis of ruthenium carbene complex RuCl2(PPh3)2(=CCHtBu) and its polymer supported correspondent. Experimental results showed that the behavior of both the supported boron and supported ruthenium catalysts are superior to their unsupported counterparts. The possible promotion mechanism of the tailor-made supports is discussed.

PREPARATIVE STUDIES ON MONODISPERSED POLYMERIC NICROPARTICLES AND LATEX-COATED PACKINGS IN ANION CHROMATOGRAPHY

Monodispersed potymeric microparticles were prepared by seed-poly- merization.High performance packings were obtained for anion chromatography by coating the surface-sutfonated partictes with quarternized latexes.

Novel Lanthanide Cluster Polymers Based on Cubane-like [Ln4(OH)4]^8＋ Clusters and Sulfate Anions

Two lanthanide-oxo-cluster polymers were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction using Ln_2O_3 as initial lanthanide materials：[Ln_4（SO_4）_4（OH）_4（H_2O）_7]·_4H_2O（Ln = Er 1,Ho 2）,and characterized by PXRD,IR spectra,X-ray single-crystal diffraction,2D IR correlation spectra and UV-visible absorption spectra.Single-crystal X-ray analyses reveal that compounds 1 and 2 are isostructural,and they are both crystallized in the orthorhombic system Pccn space group.Compound 1 is a 3D lanthanide cluster polymer based on tetranuclear cubane-like [Er_4（μ_3-OH）_4]^8＋ cations and SO_4^2- anions.The overall structure of 1 can be assigned to 6-connected pcu-type topology with the point symbol of（4^12.6^3）.

Synthesis of an Amphiphilic Dendrimer-Like Block Copolymer and Its Application on Drug Delivery

Dendrimer-like amphiphilic copolymer is a kind of three-dimensional spherical structure polymer. An amphiphilic dendrimer-like diblock copolymer, PEEGE-G2-b-PEO（OH）12, constituted of a hydrophobic poly（ethoxyethyl glycidol ether） inner core and a hydrophilic poly（ethylene oxide） outer layer, has been successfully synthesized by the living anionic ring-opening polymerization method. The intermediates and targeted products were charac-terized with 1H NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. The application on drug delivery of dendrimer-like diblock copolymer PEEGE-G2-b-PEO（OH）12 using DOX as a model drug was also studied. The drug loading content and encapsulation e ciency were found at 13.07% and 45.75%, respectively. In vitro release experiment results indicated that the drug-loaded micelles exhibited a sustained release behavior under acidic media.

SYNTHESIS OF HYDROXYL-TERMINATED POLYBUTADIENE POSSESSING HIGH CONTENT OF 1,4-UNITS VIA ANIONIC POLYMERIZATION

The hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene （HTPB） possessing high content of 1,4-units was synthesized by anionic polymerization of butadiene, using alkyllithium containing silicon-protected hydroxyl group as initiator and cyclohexane as solvent. The polymers were characterized by GPC, IR and 1H-NMR. The mechanical properties of cured films were also evaluated. The results show that the content of 1,4-units for HTPBs made by anionic polymerization reaches up to 90%. The molecular weight distribution is very narrow （〈 1.05）. The functionality of hydroxyl groups approaches 2. Compared with free radical HTPB, the elongation at break of anionic HTPB films increased by 70%, while the tensile strength remained nearly unchanged. This new HTPB can be very useful in solid propellant.