Alkali metal catalysts, polymerization using

It can be seen that both the solvent and the catalyst affect the structure of the polymer produced. For example, the structure of the polyisoprene differs strongly with the alkali metal, even when used in the same solvent medium. Experiments with a typical organometallic complex catalyst, consisting of trialkyl-aluminum and titanium tetrachloride, show that the same initiator can lead to quite different structures in the products of polymerization of isoprene and of butadiene. 

The polymerization of styrene to form macromolecules using alkali metal catalysts has been known and extensively used. The dimerization of styrene is, however, a novel reaction (12). Dimers of styrene, a -methylstyrene and a codimer of tEe above two styrenes are obtained by heating the olefins at about 160 in the presence of catalytic amounts of anhydrous -BuOK. 

Polymerizations Using N-Chelated Alkali Metal Catalysts... 

PREPARATIVE METHODS ds-l,4-Polyisoprene is made by coordination, anionic, free-radical, or cationic polymerization of isoprene through the use of coordination catalysts, alkali metal catalysts, AUin catalysts, organoalkani catalysts, or conventional Lewis acids. ... 

Some of the results of bulk polymerization of 61 by using different anionic catalysts are summarized in Table 858 It was easily polymerized in the presence of alkali metal compounds above 60 °C. The polymerization at 150 °C was too fast to be controlled. The yield and the viscosity number, i gp/c, of the resulting polyamide increased with the reaction time. The initial rate of the polymerization became higher with the size of the countercation, in analogy to the case of anionic polymerization of e-caprolactam59. The rate increased also with raising temperature as shown in Fig. 658. ... 

An interesting feature of the ring opening polymerization of siloxanes is their ability to proceed via either anionic or cationic mechanisms depending on the type of the catalyst employed. In the anionic polymerization alkali metal hydroxides, quaternary ammonium (I NOH) and phosphonium (R POH) bases and siloxanolates (Si—Oe M ) are the most widely used catalysts 1,2-4). They are usually employed at a level of 10 2 to KT4 weight percent depending on their activities and the reaction conditions. The activity of alkali metal hydroxides and siloxanolates decrease in the following order 76 79,126). 

Polymer (184) has a network structure and was obtained by reaction of dibenzo-18-crown-6 with formaldehyde in formic acid. Amongst the alkali metal ions, it selectively captures K+ and Cs+ from methanol or methanol/water. A related polymeric product has been reported (as a gel) from the reaction of this crown with formaldehyde in chloroform using sulfuric acid as catalyst (Davydova, Baravanov, Apymova Prata, 1975). 

The polymerization catalysts that are preferred because of their selectivity are the alkali metal (especially cesium) carbonates, tetraalkylammonium and bis(triphenylphosphoranylidene)ammonium (PPN) chlorides and bicarbonates (Table 4.2). Undesired side reactions are minimized by using relatively low (< 5% by weight) catalyst levels. Under these conditions, the fraction of cyclic oligomer was usually 5% or less and was easily removed from the desired polymer by Kugelrohr distillation. Conversions of 5 were essentially quantitative as judged by product weights and lack of detectable amounts of unreacted monomer by GPC. 

Nitroalkanols are intermediate compounds that are used extensively in many important syntheses 142). They can be converted by hydrogenation into / -aminoalcohols, which are intermediates for pharmacologically important chemicals such as chloroamphenicol and ephedrine. They are obtained by Henry s reaction by the condensation of nitroalkanes with aldehydes. The classical method for this transformation involves the use of bases such as alkali metal hydroxides, alkoxides, Ba(OH)2, amines, etc. 142-144). However, these catalysts give predominantly dehydrated products—nitroalkenes— which are susceptible to polymerization (Scheme 16). The reaction proceeds by the nucleophilic addition of the carbanion formed by the abstraction of a proton from the nitro compound to the carbon atom of the carbonyl group, finally forming the nitroaldol by abstraction of a proton from the catalyst. 

Stereospecific polymerization of acetaldehyde was discovered in 1960 by Natta 17), Furukawa (18), and Vogl (19) independently. Vogl used an alkali metal compound as a catalyst, while other workers used organoaluminum or organozinc and their derivatives. 

Synthetic routes include anionic, cationic, zwitterionic, and coordination polymerization. A wide range of organometallic compounds has been proven as effective initiators/catalysts for ROP of lactones Lewis acids (e.g., A1C13, BF3, and ZnCl2) [150], alkali metal compounds [160], organozinc compounds [161], tin compounds of which stannous octoate [also referred to as stannous-2-ethylhexanoate or tin(II) octoate] is the most well known [162-164], organo-acid rare earth compounds such as lanthanide complexes [165-168], and aluminum alkoxides [169]. Stannous-2-ethylhexanoate is one of the most extensively used initiators for the coordination polymerization of biomaterials, thanks to the ease of polymerization and because it has been approved by the FDA [170]. 

Miscellaneous Reactions. Sodium bisulfite adds to acetaldehyde to form a white crystalline addition compound, insoluble in ethyl alcohol and ether. This bisulfite addition compound is frequently used to isolate and purify acetaldehyde, which may be regenerated with dilute acid. Hydrocyanic acid adds to acetaldehyde in the presence of an alkali catalyst to form cyanohydrin the cyanohydrin may also be prepared from sodium cyanide and the bisulfite addition compound. Acrylonitrile [107-13-1] (qv) can be made from acetaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid by heating the cyanohydrin that is formed to 600—700°C (77). Alanine [302-72-7] can be prepared by the reaction of an ammonium salt and an alkali metal cyanide with acetaldehyde this is a general method for the preparation of a-amino acids called the Strecker amino acids synthesis. Giignard reagents add readily to acetaldehyde, the final product being a secondary alcohol. Thioacetaldehyde [2765-04-0] is formed by reaction of acetaldehyde with hydrogen sulfide thioacetaldehyde polymerizes readily to the trimer. 

The catalysts used are bromine, iodine, haloamides I and/or polymerization inhibitors, in general in amounts of from 0.0001 to 0.1 preferably from 0.001 to 0.05, mole of catalyst per mole of methyi ketone. Instead of the above catalysts, it is also possible to usr compounds which form such catalysts under the reaction conditions, e.g to use bromides and iodides in place of bromine or iodine. Water-soluble halides are preferred and are advantageously used in the form of thei alkaline earth metal salts or, especially, their alkali metal salts, e.g calcium bromide, calcium iodide, magnesium bromide, magnesiais iodide, lithium bromide, lithium iodide and especially sodium bromide or iodide or potassium bromide or iodide... 

These anionic ring opening polymerizations are usually carried out either in bulk or in solution. A host of catalyst types are active. For synthetic references using specific catalysts, the reader is referred to several excellent sources (4,7,31,32). Representative catalysts include hydroxides, alcoholates, phenolates, silanolates, siloxanolates, mercaptides of the alkali metals, organolithium and potassium compounds, and quaternary ammonium and phosphonium bases and their silanolates and siloxanolates. Some physical characteristics of linear oligomers are given in Table 5 (10). 

Four chapters in this volume are addressed to the uses of chelated alkali metal complexes in various polymerizations, telomerizations, and polymer grafting applications. They fully cover all of the published work in these areas. There are, however, several general features based on our unpublished results which warrant a general discussion. These include the effect of catalyst ion pair structure on polymerization activity and polybutadiene microstructure, the effect of steric hindrance on catalyst activity, and the mechanisms for chain transfer. 

---