Depropagation

Propa.ga.tlon, The tertiary THF oxonium ion undergoes propagation by an S. mechanism as a result of a bimolecular colHsion with THF monomer. Only colHsions at the ring a-carbon atoms of the oxonium ion result in chain growth. Depropagation results from an intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the penultimate chain oxygen atom at the exocycHc a-carbon atom of the oxonium ion, followed by expulsion of a monomer molecule. 

The mechanism of anionic polymerization of cyclosiloxanes has been the subject of several studies (96,97). The first kinetic analysis in this area was carried out in the early 1950s (98). In the general scheme of this process, the propagation/depropagation step involves the nucleophilic attack of the silanolate anion on the sUicon, which results in the cleavage of the siloxane bond and formation of the new silanolate active center (eq. 17). 

The addition of radicals and, in particular, propagating radicals, to unsaturated systems is potentially a reversible process (Scheme 4.46). Depropagation is cntropically favored and the extent therefore increases with increasing temperature (Figure 4.4). The temperature at which the rate of propagation and depropagalion become equal is known as the ceiling temperature (rc). Above Tc there will be net depolymerization. 

With most common monomers, the rate of the reverse reaction (depropagation) is negligible at typical polymerization temperatures. However, monomers with alkyl groups in the a-position have lower ceiling temperatures than monosubstituted monomers (Table 4.10). For MMA at temperatures <100 °C, the value of is <0.01 (Figure 4.4). AMS has a ceiling temperature of <30 °C and is not readily polymerizable by radical methods. This monomer can, however, be copolymerized successfully (Section 7.3.1.4). 

The value of T and the propagation/depropagation equilibrium constant (A e[ ) can be measured directly by studying the equilibrium between monomer and polymer or they can be calculated at various temperatures given values of AHp and ASP using cq. 11 and 12 respectively. 

Copolymerizations of other monomers may also be subject to similar effects given sufficiently high reaction temperatures (at or near their ceiling temperatures - Section 4.5.1). The depropagation of methacrylate esters becomes measurable at temperatures >100 °C (Section 4.5.1).96 O Driseoll and Gasparro86 have reported on the copolymerization of MMA with S at 250 °C. 

The main reaction in the radiation degradation of all the polyfolefin sulfone)s is the depropagation step... 

Bowden and Thompson83 studied the degradation of thin films of various poly(olefin sulfone)s of low olefins due to radiolysis by electron beams at 20 °C. All samples decreased in thickness, indicating scission and depropagation. 

The effect of propagation-depropagation equilibrium on the copolymer composition is important in some cases. In extreme cases, depolymerization and equilibration of the heterochain copolymers become so important that the copolymer composition is no longer determined by the propagation reactions. Transacetalization, for example, cannot be neglected in the later stages of trioxane and DOL copolymerization111, 173. This reaction is used in the commercial production of polyacetal in which redistribution of acetal sequences increases the thermal stability of the copolymers. 

Conversion is limited by propagation-depropagation equilibrium, due to low ceiling temperature... 

Increasing the temperature may also increase the rate of depropagation resulting in equilibrium monomer concentrations well above an acceptable residual monomer concentration (Sawada (1976)). It seems there exists an optimum temperature of polymerization that will reduce the time of polymerzation but will avoid the problems of depolymetization and of initiator depletion. 

In this paper we present a meaningful analysis of the operation of a batch polymerization reactor in its final stages (i.e. high conversion levels) where MWD broadening is relatively unimportant. The ultimate objective is to minimize the residual monomer concentration as fast as possible, using the time-optimal problem formulation. Isothermal as well as nonisothermal policies are derived based on a mathematical model that also takes depropagation into account. The effect of initiator concentration, initiator half-life and activation energy on optimum temperature and time is studied. 

None of the above efforts considered depropagation effects in combination with the optimal reactor problem. When a polymerization is carried out at high temperature to reach a fmal monomer concentration which is low, the thermodynamic (depropagation) effects may become more important than the kinetic ones. 

When the rate of the propagation reaction equals that of depropagation... 

We emphasize that the conditions subscripted with a zero (time, initiator and monomer concentration) are not the beginning of a reaction, but rather some point well advanced in the polymerization process when the remaining amount of monomer is small in absolute terms but large compared to the desired end state of the polymerization (Mg M ). The amount of initiator Ig is to be achieved by addition to any present immediately before time zero, and the final monomer concentration, M, is set by production specifications. We do not set any predetennined bounds on upper and lower temperature limits. In practice the upper limit will be detennined by either reaction variables (depropagation and initiator depletion) or by process variables (heat exchange), while the lower temperature limit will be determined by process variables (solubility, heat exchange). We do not here consider the process variables to be constraints. 

Ito, K., and Yamashita, Y., Propagation and depropagation rates in the anionic polymerization of e-caprolactone cyclic oligomers, Macromolecules. Ij., 68-72, 1978. 

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