Cationic monomers, soybean oils

Unlike ethylene, propylene, isobutylene or styrene, soybean oils are considered polyfunctional monomers due to the presence of multiple C=C bonds within the triglyceride. Along with their relatively high molecular weights ( 880 g/mol) and ability to efficiently stabilize intermediate carbocations, it is not surprising that their cationic polymerization easily affords high molecular weight polymers with crosslinked polymer networks. 

Polymerizable monomers produced by plants such as terpenes and unsaturated plant oils (Chart 1, Group A) are one of the most desired groups. Of these, terpenes are the most important class from a commercial standpoint [28]. These polymers find widespread use as tackifying agents in adhesives. The cationic polymerization of plant oils (e.g., soybean oil) is known but the resultant materials do not possess useful physical properties and therefore they are typically copolymerized with petroleum-derived monomers (e.g., divinylbenzene, dicyclopentadiene) [29-35]. 

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