Chemical reaction addition polymerization

Cure — A process of changing the properties of a polymer by a chemical reaction (condensation, polymerization, or addition). In elastomers it means mainly cross-linking or vulcanization. 

Polymerization is basically the bonding of two or more monomers to produce polymers/plastics (Chapter 1). A chemical reaction, addition or condensation, in which the molecules of a monomer are linked together to form large molecules whose molecular weight is a multiple of that of the original substance result in high molecular weight components. 

The maleimide group can undergo a variety of chemical reactions, including polymerizations induced by free radicals or anions. Nucleophiles such as primary and secondary amines , as well as thiophenoxides , can react via a classical Michael-type addition mechanism . The maleimide group can also act as a very reactive dienophile and is thns nsed in a variety of Diels-Alder reactions . By varying the natnre of the linkages between the maleimide rings, the physical properties of the bis(maleimide) can be altered. 

In the last section we examined some of the categories into which polymers can be classified. Various aspects of molecular structure were used as the basis for classification in that section. Next we shall consider the chemical reactions that produce the molecules as a basis for classification. The objective of this discussion is simply to provide some orientation and to introduce some typical polymers. For this purpose a number of polymers may be classified as either addition or condensation polymers. Each of these classes of polymers are discussed in detail in Part II of this book, specifically Chaps. 5 and 6 for condensation and addition, respectively. Even though these categories are based on the reactions which produce the polymers, it should not be inferred that only two types of polymerization reactions exist. We have to start somewhere, and these two important categories are the usual place to begin. 

The initiators which are used in addition polymerizations are sometimes called catalysts, although strictly speaking this is a misnomer. A true catalyst is recoverable at the end of the reaction, chemically unchanged. Tliis is not true of the initiator molecules in addition polymerizations. Monomer and polymer are the initial and final states of the polymerization process, and these govern the thermodynamics of the reaction the nature and concentration of the intermediates in the process, on the other hand, determine the rate. This makes initiator and catalyst synonyms for the same material The former term stresses the effect of the reagent on the intermediate, and the latter its effect on the rate. The term catalyst is particularly common in the language of ionic polymerizations, but this terminology should not obscure the importance of the initiation step in the overall polymerization mechanism. 

Process in wliich the addition of heat, catalyst or both, with or without pressure, causes the physical properties of the plastic to change through a chemical reaction. Reaction may be condensation, polymerization or addition reactions. 

When polymerizing dienes for synthetic rubber production, coordination catalysts are used to direct the reaction to yield predominantly 1,4-addition polymers. Chapter 11 discusses addition polymerization. The following reviews some of the physical and chemical properties of butadiene and isoprene. 

In addition to chemical reactions, the isokinetic relationship can be applied to various physical processes accompanied by enthalpy change. Correlations of this kind were found between enthalpies and entropies of solution (20, 83-92), vaporization (86, 91), sublimation (93, 94), desorption (95), and diffusion (96, 97) and between the two parameters characterizing the temperature dependence of thermochromic transitions (98). A kind of isokinetic relationship was claimed even for enthalpy and entropy of pure substances when relative values referred to those at 298° K are used (99). Enthalpies and entropies of intermolecular interaction were correlated for solutions, pure liquids, and crystals (6). Quite generally, for any temperature-dependent physical quantity, the activation parameters can be computed in a formal way, and correlations between them have been observed for dielectric absorption (100) and resistance of semiconductors (101-105) or fluidity (40, 106). On the other hand, the isokinetic relationship seems to hold in reactions of widely different kinds, starting from elementary processes in the gas phase (107) and including recombination reactions in the solid phase (108), polymerization reactions (109), and inorganic complex formation (110-112), up to such biochemical reactions as denaturation of proteins (113) and even such biological processes as hemolysis of erythrocytes (114). 

Ethene or ethylene is the most important organic chemical used in commercial applications. Annual production of ethylene in the United States was over twenty-five million tons in the year 2000. Propylene is also used in large quantities with an annual production of over thirteen million tons. Alkenes such as ethylene and propylene have the ability to undergo addition polymerization. In this process, multiple addition reactions take place and many molecules link together to form a polymer. A polymer is a long chain of repeating units called monomers. For example, the addition of two ethylene molecules can be represented as... 

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