Azobisisobutyronitrile radical initiator

Free-radical polymerization processes are used to produce virtually all commercial methacrylic polymers. Usually free-radical initiators (qv) such as azo compounds or peroxides are used to initiate the polymerizations. Photochemical and radiation-initiated polymerizations are also well known. At a constant temperature, the initial rate of the bulk or solution radical polymerization of methacrylic monomers is first-order with respect to monomer concentration, and one-half order with respect to the initiator concentration. Rate data for polymerization of several common methacrylic monomers initiated with 2,2 -azobisisobutyronitrile [78-67-1] (AIBN) have been deterrnined and are shown in Table 8. 

In the presence of radical initiators such as benzoyl peroxide (BPO), azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), persulfates (S208 ), etc., grafting of vinyl monomers onto polymeric backbones involves generation of free radical sites by hydrogen abstraction and chain transfer processes as described below ... 

It is important to emphasize that the hydroxy dithioketal cyclization can be conducted under mild reaction conditions and can be successfully applied to a variety of substrates.15 However, the utility of this method for the synthesis of didehydrooxocane-contain-ing natural products requires the diastereoselective, reductive removal of the ethylthio group. Gratifyingly, treatment of 13 with triphenyltin hydride and a catalytic amount of the radical initiator, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), accomplishes a homolytic cleavage of the C-S bond and furnishes didehydrooxocane 14 in diastereo-merically pure form (95 % yield), after hydrogen atom transfer. 

Konig et al. have achieved thioether functionalization of T8[CH = CH2]8 via the radical addition of thiols such as thiophenol, cyclohexylthiol, and 2-mercaptopyridine in the presence of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as a radical initiator (Table 13), while Gao et al. have also used this method to prepare very highly functionalized POSS by reacting T8[CH = CH2]8 with thiol-terminated glycosides giving glycoclusters in 70% yield (Figure 22). 

The monomers used in chain polymerisations are unsaturated, sometimes referred to as vinyl monomers. In order to carry out such polymerisations a small trace of an initiator material is required. These substances readily fragment into free radicals either when heated or when irradiated with electromagnetic radiation from around or just beyond the blue end of the spectrum. The two most commonly used free radical initiators for these reactions are benzoyl peroxide and azobisisobutyronitrile (usually abbreviated to AIBN). They react as indicated in Reactions 2.1 and 2.2. 

Nanosize particles of polyacrylic acid were synthesized in w/o microemulsions using azobisisobutyronitrile as lipophilic radical initiator, which were considered suitable for encapsulation of peptides and other hydrophilic drugs [195],... 

PVPA was prepared by the free-radical homopolymerization of vinyl-phosphonyl dichloride using azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator in a chlorinated solvent. The poly(vinylphosphonyl chloride) formed was then hydrolysed to PVPA (Ellis, 1989). No values are available for the apparent pA s of PVPA, but unpolymerized dibasic phosphonic acids have and values similar to those of orthophosphoric acid, i.e. 2 and 8 (Van Wazer, 1958). They are thus stronger acids than acrylic acid, which as a pK of 4-25, and it is to be expected that PVPA will be a stronger and more reactive acid than poly(acrylic acid). 

An alternative method of preparing the saturated cyclic amines via cyclopolymerization of diallylamine or diallylammonium chloride was unsuccessful. Common free radical initiators such as 2,2 -azobisisobutyronitrile, ammonium persulfate, benzoyl peroxide were found to be ineffective. Several procedures reported in the literature were followed, and unfortunately all of them have resulted only a small amount of low molecular weight oligomers. Further research for polymerization conditions and types of initiation is still required. 

We have also investigated the kinetics of free radical initiation using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator [24]. Using high pressure ultraviolet spectroscopy, it was shown that AIBN decomposes slower in C02 than in a traditional hydrocarbon liquid solvent such as benzene, but with much greater efficiency due to the decreased solvent cage effect in the low viscosity supercritical medium. The conclusion of this work was that C02 is inert to free radicals and therefore represents an excellent solvent for conducting free radical polymerizations. 

Some of the most important critical points in RAFT polymerizations are the relative concentrations of the free radical initiator, the CTA, and the monomer, since these will establish the delicate balance between the dormant and active species. Acrylate and methacrylate derivatives can be successfully polymerized using 2-cyano-2-butyl dithio benzoate (CBDB) as a CTA. However, the amount of free radical initiator (a, a-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) is used in general) compared to CTA determines the rate of control over the polymerization. Therefore, eight different acrylates or methacrylates were polymerized with different ratios of CTA to AIBN [54]. The structures of the monomers and the design of the experiment are shown in Fig. 6. 

Materials. Polymer-bonded sensitizers and their model compounds are shown in Figure 2. Samples 1-5 were prepared by radical copolymerization of corresponding ethylenic monomers using azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator at 70°C in DMF(5) or DMF/H20 (9/1 for 1, 2 and 4 8/1 for 3) (15). Sample 7 was prepared by the same procedure as 6 (16). The copolymer compositions... 

The tin hydride method suffers from one major disadvantage, namely the efficiency of the reagent as a hydrogen atom donor. For successful synthesis, alkenes have to be reactive enough, otherwise direct reduction of the starting precursor becomes a considerable side reaction. In practice, the yields are increased by slow addition of a solution of tin hydride and a radical initiator into the reaction mixture containing an excess of alkene. However, a delicate balance must be maintained. If a large excess of olefin is used, polymerization can compete. 2,2-Azobisisobutyronitrile is the most commonly employed initiator, with a half-life time for unimolecular scission of 1 h at 80°C. 

Other experimental methods, diagnostic for establishing radical pathways, are broadly kinetic or stereochemical in origin, being based on regio-or stereoselectivity. The effect of the addition of a known radical initiator, such as azobisisobutyronitrile, AIBN (V), or of a radical inhibitor, such as galvinoxyl (VI), upon the rate of a reaction may be informative. Sim-... 

The process improvement patent (73) also describes the preparation of an acrylonitrile-isoprene copolymer using azobisisobutyronitrile as free radical initiator and zinc chloride as complexing agent. The reaction is carried out using 1-50 moles of acrylonitrile per mole of isoprene and a 10 1 molar ratio of acrylonitrile to zinc chloride. The copolymer, obtained in 16.8% yield (calculated as a 1 1 copolymer), contains 48.2 weight % of acrylonitrile, corresponding to a 1.2 1 acrylonitrile-isoprene molar ratio, and is soluble in acetone and chloroform, in marked contrast to the solubility of the corresponding copolymer prepared with free radical initiators. 

TABLE 2. Results of bulk polymerization of A-alkylvinylformamide at 65° C using 2,2 -azobisisobutyronitrile as the free radical initiator. 

Azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) is a widely used radical initiator that usually does not get involved as a reagent in radical reactions itself. Montevecchi et al. reported... 

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