Anhydride in Condensation Polymers

Dicylopentadiene Resins. Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) can be used as a reactive component in polyester resins in two distinct reactions with maleic anhydride (7). The addition reaction of maleic anhydride in the presence of an equivalent of water produces a dicyclopentadiene acid maleate that can condense with ethylene or diethylene glycol to form low molecular weight, highly reactive resins. These resins, introduced commercially in 1980, have largely displaced OfXv o-phthahc resins in marine apphcations because of beneficial shrinkage properties that reduce surface profile. The inherent low viscosity of these polymers also allows for the use of high levels of fillers, such as alumina tfihydrate, to extend the resin-enhancing, fiame-retardant properties for apphcation in bathtub products (Table 4). 

In turn the oxazoline-containing polymer may then react very rapidly (e.g. at 240°C) with such groups as carboxyls, amines, phenols, anhydrides or epoxides, which may be present in other polymers. This reaction will link the two polymers by a rearrangement reaction similar to that involved in a rearrangement polymerisation without the evolution of water or any gaseous condensation products (Figure 7.14). 

By means of a ring-opening polymerization of the condensation type Vlasov et al. [50] synthesized polypeptide based MAIs with azo groups in the polymeric backbone. The method is based on the reaction of a hydracide derivative of AIBN and a N-carboxy anhydride. Containing one central azo group in the polymer main chain, the polymeric azo initiator was used for initiating block copolymerizations of styrene and various methacrylamides. 

The first fire retardant polyester containing a reactive fire retardant monomer was introduced by the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation in the early 1950 s containing chlorendic acid as the reactive monomer (6). This pioneering development rapidly led to the introduction of variety of reactive halogen and phosphorus containing monomers, such as tetrabromophthalic anhydride, chlorostyrene and tetrabromobisphenol A, which found application in a wide variety of condensation polymer systems. 

Oxidation is the first step for producing molecules with a very wide range of functional groups because oxygenated compounds are precursors to many other products. For example, alcohols may be converted to ethers, esters, alkenes, and, via nucleophilic substitution, to halogenated or amine products. Ketones and aldehydes may be used in condensation reactions to form new C-C double bonds, epoxides may be ring opened to form diols and polymers, and, finally, carboxylic acids are routinely converted to esters, amides, acid chlorides and acid anhydrides. Oxidation reactions are some of the largest scale industrial processes in synthetic chemistry, and the production of alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, epoxides and carboxylic acids is performed on a mammoth scale. For example, world production of ethylene oxide is estimated at 58 million tonnes, 2 million tonnes of adipic acid are made, mainly as a precursor in the synthesis of nylons, and 8 million tonnes of terephthalic acid are produced each year, mainly for the production of polyethylene terephthalate) [1]. 

Aldehydes or ketones were found to smoothly condense with 0-alkylhydroxylamine at room temperature using 20 mol% of AcOH in EtOAc. Polymer-supported methylisatoic anhydride (PL-MIA) was employed to scavenge the excess of alkoxyamines (Scheme 10). 

Other five-membered heterocyclic enones used in [2 + 2] photocycloadditions are 1//-pyrrole-2,3-diones86-88 and derivatives of maleic anhydride. Some cycloadducts of dimethylmaleic anhydride and unsaturated acid esters have been used as monomers for condensation polymers.89... 

Vinyl ester resins arc manufactured through an addition reaction of an epoxy resin with an acrylic monomer, such as acrylic acid, methaciylic add. or the half-ester product of an hydroxyalkyl acrylate and anhydride. In contrast, the polyester resins are condensation products of dibasic acids and palyhydric alcohols. The relatively low-molecular-weight precise polymer structure of the vinyl ester resins is in contrast to the high-molecular-weight random structure of the polyesters. 

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