Condensation polymers production

The vast majority of modern resins are produced by the addition polymerization route and take the form of spherical beads. A few condensation polymer products remain available and these have an amorphous granular appearance. 

ETHYLENE We discussed ethylene production in an earlier boxed essay (Section 5 1) where it was pointed out that the output of the U S petrochemi cal industry exceeds 5 x 10 ° Ib/year Approximately 90% of this material is used for the preparation of four compounds (polyethylene ethylene oxide vinyl chloride and styrene) with polymerization to poly ethylene accounting for half the total Both vinyl chloride and styrene are polymerized to give poly(vinyl chloride) and polystyrene respectively (see Table 6 5) Ethylene oxide is a starting material for the preparation of ethylene glycol for use as an an tifreeze in automobile radiators and in the produc tion of polyester fibers (see the boxed essay Condensation Polymers Polyamides and Polyesters in Chapter 20)... 

It is the third of these criteria that offers the most powerful insight into the nature of the polymerization process for this important class of materials. We shall frequently use the terms step-growth and condensation polymers as synonyms, although by the end of the chapter it will be apparent that step-growth polymerization encompasses a wider range of reactions and products than either criteria (1) or (2) above would indicate. 

TriaUyl Gyanurate Gure of Preformed Polymers. TAC and TAIC are often used in smaU amounts with vinyl-type and condensation polymers for cured plastics, mbber and adhesive products of high strength, and heat and solvent resistance. In some cases, chemical stabUity is also... 

Amorphous sihca exists also ia a variety of forms that are composed of small particles, possibly aggregated. Commonly encountered products iaclude sihca sols, sihca gels, precipitated sihca, and pyrogenic sihca (9,73). These products differ ia their modes of manufacture and the way ia which the primary particles aggregate (Fig. 8). Amorphous sihcas are characterhed by small ultimate particle si2e and high specific surface area. Their surfaces may be substantially anhydrous or may contain silanol, —SiOH, groups. These sihcas are frequentiy viewed as condensation polymers of sihcic acid, Si(OH)4. 

Among the polymeric stabilizers may be listed poly-condensed polymers based on alkyl phenols, aldehydes, and ketones of the aliphatic series, where = 1 - 8 and R,R means alkyl [24], Na, K, Ca phenolates of poly-condensed polymers [25], and also products of epichlor-ide with one or more aliphatic amines C3—C30 [26]. 

Condensation polymers are often formed from two distinct monomers, each of which is difunctional. The monomers have the forms AMA and BNB where A and B are functional groups that react to couple the M and N units and form a condensation by-product, AB. M and N are the mer units that form the polymer chain. The first step in the polymerization forms dimer ... 

Equilibrium between Monomer and Polymer. A monomer-with-polymer equilibrium is quite different from the polymer-with-condensation-product equilibrium discussed in Section 13.1.1. If the condensation product is removed from the reaction mixture, a condensation polymer increases in molecular weight. If the monomer is removed when it is in equilibrium with the polymer, the polymer depolymerizes to re-form the monomer. At temperatures suitable for long-term use, the equihbrium will be shifted toward stable polymer. However, at fabrication temperatures and at the high temperatures common in devolatilization, the production of monomer and low-molecular-weight ohgomers can be significant. 

Most condensation polymers have negligible heats of reaction. See Table 13.2. Heat must be supplied to evaporate by-products such as water or ethylene glycol. An external heat exchanger is the best method for heating large reactors. Flashing the recycle stream as it enters the vessel also aids in devolatilization. 

Two different arrangements of functional groups can give a condensation polymer. Notice that both condensation reactions generate a product that has an A end and a B end, allowing condensation to continue. 

In 1929 Carothers proposed a generally useful differentiation between two broad classes of polymers condensation polymers in which the molecular formula of the structural unit (or units) lacks certain atoms present in the monomer from which it is formed, or to which it may be degraded by chemical means, and addition polymers, in which the molecular formula of the structural unit (or units) is identical with that of the monomer from which the polymer is derived. Condensation polymers may be formed from monomers bearing two or more reactive groups of such a character that they may condense intermolecu-larly with the elimination of a by-product, often water. The polyamides and polyesters referred to above afford prime examples of condensation polymers. The formation of a polyester from a suitable hydroxy acid takes place as follows ... 

The molecular formula of the condensation polymer is not an integral multiple of the formula of the monomer molecule owing to the elimination of a by-product, which in this case is water. The most important class of addition polymers consists of those derived from unsaturated monomers, such as the vinyl compounds... 

When X = Y, as in polyethylene, poly-(tetrafluoroethylene), polyisobutylene, and poly -(vinylidene chloride), the polymers are highly crystalline products with sharply definable melting points (except for polyisobutylene, which crystallizes readily on stretching but with difficulty on cooling). Oriented specimens of high strength may be obtained, exactly as in the crystalline condensation polymers. 

The chemical and physical properties of the polymers obtained by these alternate methods are identical, except insofar as they are affected by differences in molecular weight. In order to avoid the confusion which would result if classification of the products were to be based on the method of synthesis actually employed in each case, it has been proposed that the substance be referred to as a condensation polymer in such instances, irrespective of whether a condensation or an addition polymerization process was used in its preparation. The cyclic compound is after all a condensation product of one or more bifunctional compounds, and in this sense the linear polymer obtained from the cyclic intermediate can be regarded as the polymeric derivative of the bifunctional monomer(s). Furthermore, each of the polymers listed in Table III may be degraded to bifunctional monomers differing in composition from the structural unit, although such degradation of polyethylene oxide and the polythioether may be difficult. Apart from the demands of any particular definition, it is clearly desirable to include all of these substances among the condensation... 

The difficulties of devising a basis for conveniently classifying various polymerizations in an appropriate manner have been discussed earlier in this chapter and several borderline examples which offer particular difficulty have been mentioned. One of these, the polymerization of the N-carboxyanhydrides, falls within the definition of a condensation polymerization, proceeds by a mechanism resembling a vinyl addition polymerization, and yields a product which possesses the structure of a typical condensation polymer. Definitions have been... 

In principle, polymers equivalent to those obtained from vinyl and divinyl monomers may be synthesized by this method. The product in the above example possesses the same chain structure as polyethylene. The polymerization process, notwithstanding the likelihood of a metal alkyl intermediate, should conform satisfactorily to stepwise condensation. However, the product, and those obtained by Friedel-Crafts condensation as well, lack the recurrent functional groups which generally characterize condensation polymers. 

Id. Cyclic Condensation Polymers.—The foregoing discussion has proceeded under the assumption that the only products of bifunctional condensation are open chain polymer molecules—an assumption which obviously will not be exactly valid since cyclic polymers must always occur to some extent. The nature of the error introduced by this assumption will be examined in the course of the following discussion of cyclic polymer components. 

For a free-radical polymerization and a condensation polymerization process, explain why the molar mass distribution of the polymer product will be different depending on whether a mixed-flow or a plug-flow reactor is used. What will be the difference in the distribution of molar mass ... 

Linear condensation polymers are produced when the constituent monomers contain two functional groups each. When a single monomer is polymerized, the product is made of chains whose repeat unit corresponds to the monomer. An example of this type is nylon 6, the structure of which is shown in Fig. 1.10. If two different monomers are polymerized, the result most often is a chain whose repeat unit corresponds to the two different monomers arranged alternately. An example of this type is nylon 66, the structure of which is shown in... 

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