Diene polymers, structure

In spite of the proposals of large primary valence structures for rubber by Pickles and somewhat ambiguously for polybutadiene by Lebedev, prevailing opinion favored rings of moderate size for vinyl and diene polymers. Structures similar to those widely accepted for cellulose and rubber were generally assumed. 

A fairly considerable amount of research has gone into the determination of diene polymer structure. The technique which one now finds most often em- j ployed is quantitative infrared spectroscopy (54). Although this technique still appears to present a number of difficulties, its ease and convenience have led to wide usage. Ozonization and perbenzoic acid titration have also been used to distinguish 1,2, from 1,4 linkages (75). 

Polymerization of Dienes Using Organo-alkalis. The diene polymer structures that have so far been discussed were all those of polymers prepared in bulk using alkali metals. 

Conclusions Regarding Polydiene Structure. Although a considerable amount of data is available in the literature concerning diene polymer structure, the systems studied are few and the information overlaps. However, the following conclusions seem to be in accord with the available data. 

It is an observed fact that with most synthetic polymers the head-to-tail structure is formed. In the case of diene polymers differences may arise in the point of addition. Reaction can take place at the 1 and 4 positions, the 1 and 2 positions or the 3 and 4 positions to give the structures indicated in Figure 4.9. 

These materials differ from the previous class of resin in that the basic structure of these molecules consists of long chains whereas the cyclic aliphatics contain ring structures. Three subgroups may be distinguished, epoxidised diene polymers, epoxidised oils, and polyglycol diepoxides. 

Typical of the epoxidised diene polymers are products produced by treatment of polybutadiene with peracetic acid. The structure of a molecular segment Figure 26.16) indicates the chemical groupings that may be present. 

In some cases, diene polymers (for instance polychloroprene rubbers) can add to the growing polymer chain by 1,2 addition (also called vinyl addition). This creates labile hydrogen or reactive halogen on tertiary carbon atoms. A few percent of this type of structure in the rubber will assist cross-linking reactions. 

Conjugated dienes can be polymerized just as simple alkenes can (Section 7.10). Diene polymers are structurally more complex than simple alkene polymers, though, because double bonds remain every four carbon atoms along the chain, leading to the possibility of cis-trans isomers. The initiator (In) for the reaction can be either a radical, as occurs in ethylene polymerization, or an acid. Note that the polymerization is a 1,4-addition of the growing chain to a conjugated diene monomer. 

Mechanisms depending on carbanionic propagating centers for these polymerizations are indicated by various pieces of evidence (1) the nature of the catalysts which are effective, (2) the intense colors that often develop during polymerization, (3) the prompt cessation of sodium-catalyzed polymerization upon the introduction of carbon dioxide and the failure of -butylcatechol to cause inhibition, (4) the conversion of triphenylmethane to triphenylmethylsodium in the zone of polymerization of isoprene under the influence of metallic sodium, (5) the structures of the diene polymers obtained (see Chap. VI), which differ. both from the radical and the cationic polymers, and (6)... 

This discussion of the structures of diene polymers would be incomplete without reference to the important contributions which have accrued from applications of the ozone degradation method. An important feature of the structure which lies beyond the province of spectral measurements, namely, the orientation of successive units in the chain, is amenable to elucidation by identification of the products of ozone cleavage. The early experiments of Harries on the determination of the structures of natural rubber, gutta-percha, and synthetic diene polymers through the use of this method are classics in polymer structure determination. On hydrolysis of the ozonide of natural rubber, perferably in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, carbon atoms which were doubly bonded prior to formation of the ozonide... 

No mention has been made of diene polymers in this discussion. Among 1,4 units the substituents are well separated from one another, and the steric repulsions between them should therefore be negligible. A succession of 1,2 units of isoprene (VIII), on the other hand, would form a chain structure of the sterically hindered type XI. 

Stereochemistry Coordination Polymerization. Stereoisomerism is possible in the polymerization of alkenes and 1,3-dienes. Polymerization of a monosubstituted ethylene, such as propylene, yields polymers in which every other carbon in the polymer chain is a chiral center. The substituent on each chiral center can have either of two configurations. Two ordered polymer structures are possible — isotactic (XII and syndiotactic (XIII) — where the substituent R groups on... 

In the case of crystals, both intramolecular (conformational) and packing energies should be taken into account simultaneously. Such a total energy minimization method, with suitable crystallographic constraints, has been applied in different steps of the analysis of crystalline structures of three different synthetic polymers. Structures of these molecules, namely, isotactic trans-1,4-poly-penta-1,3-diene (ITPP), poly-pivalolactone (PPVL), and isotactic cis-1,4-poly(2-methyl-penta-1,3-diene)(PMPD), do not have troublesome features such as charged groups, counterions, and solvent molecules. 

The answer to the cis-trans question is to be found in the methylene carbon spectrum of Fig. 7. If we look at the (61 ppm) and C4 (53 ppm) peaiks for the -78° polymers, —which we recall has an almost exclusively alternating structure—, we see that they are clearly split, but by less than 1 ppm. We might at first think this represents cis and trans structures. However, ejqierience with diene polymer spectra shows that when methylene carbons are involved in a cis structure they shield each other by 8 to 10 ppm. This is due to the operation of the Y steric effect, particularly strong when the carbon bonds actually eclipse each other rather than being merely gauche. In chloroprene units one ejqiects the C4 carbon to shift little between a cis and trans structure because it always sees a bulky substituent across the... 

The marked variation in stereostructure of diene polymers caused by changes in the counter-ion and solvent when butadiene or isoprene are polymerized anionically, are as yet not fully explained. Much progress has been made on elucidating the causes of variations in the cis/trans ratio of the l h structures in these systems (], , ), but the causes of the change in the ratio of 1 2 to 1 U structures in butadiene for example has been left largely unresolved. In dioxane, for instance, the amount of 1 2 structure decreased from with Li counter-ion at 15°, to hl% with Cs (I4). Less variation is found in THF because a substantial part of the reaction is carried by the free ion. Changes are also observed in polyisoprene ( ). 

The first point of the stereochemical analysis is in the recognition of the sequence to which a given nucleus is sensitive the problem seems rather obvious for vinyl or vinylidene polymers where the sequence must extend equally from the two sides of the nucleus in question but for diene polymers or those containing heteroatoms, the problem is not so simple. In the present case, the methylene protons are sensitive to the structure of the even sequences, dyads and tetrads, whereas the methyl protons are sensitive to the odd sequences, triads, and pentads. 

In the case of earbon-chain polymers such as vinyl polymers or diene polymers, the generic name is to be used only when different polymer structures may arise from a given monomeric system. 

Most monomers contain only one polymerizable group. There are some monomers with two polymerizable groups per molecule. Polymerization of such monomers can lead to more than one polymer structure. The polymerization of 1,3-dienes, of large industrial importance, is discussed in Sec. 8-6. 1-Substituted-l,2-dienes (allenes) undergo polymerization through both the substituted and unsubstituted double bonds... 

Infrared spectroscopy has been used for quantitatively measuring the amounts of 1,2-, 3,4-, cis-1,4-, and trans-1,4-polymers in the polymerization of 1,3-dienes its use for analysis of isotactic and syndiotactic polymer structures is very limited [Coleman et al., 1978 Tosi and Ciampelli, 1973]. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is the most powerful tool for detecting both types of stereoisomerism in polymers. High-resolution proton NMR and especially 13C NMR allow one to obtain considerable detail about the sequence distribution of stereoisomeric units within the polymer chain [Bovey, 1972, 1982 Bovey and Mirau, 1996 Tonelli, 1989 Zambelli and Gatti, 1978],... 

The anionic polymerization of 1,3-dienes yields different polymer structures depending on whether the propagating center is free or coordinated to a counterion [Morton, 1983 Quirk, 2002 Senyek, 1987 Tate and Bethea, 1985 Van Beylen et al., 1988 Young et al., 1984] Table 8-9 shows typical data for 1,3-butadiene and isoprene polymerizations. Polymerization of 1,3-butadiene in polar solvents, proceeding via the free anion and/or solvent-separated ion pair, favors 1,2-polymerization over 1,4-polymerization. The anionic center at carbon 2 is not extensively delocalized onto carbon 4 since the double bond is not a strong electron acceptor. The same trend is seen for isoprene, except that 3,4-polymerization occurs instead of 1,2-polymerization. The 3,4-double bond is sterically more accessible and has a lower electron density relative to the 1,2-double bond. Polymerization in nonpolar solvents takes place with an increased tendency toward 1,4-polymerization. The effect is most pronounced with... 

With larger amount of propylene a random copolymer known as ethylene-propylene-monomer (EPM) copolymer is formed, which is a useful elastomer with easy processability and improved optical properties.208,449 Copolymerization of ethylene and propylene with a nonconjugated diene [EPDM or ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer copolymer] introduces unsaturation into the polymer structure, allowing the further improvement of physical properties by crosslinking (sulfur vulcanization) 443,450 Only three dienes are employed commercially in EPDM manufacture dicyclopentadiene, 1,4-hexadiene, and the most extensively used 5-ethylidene-2-norbomene. 

An analysis of the ionic factors for the polymerization of dienes to cis and trans structures is possible in the same way as for isotactic mono-enes. The mechanism which controls the steric structure of poly 1,4 dienes is parallel to that we have already seen for the mono-olefins. Roha (2) listed the catalysts which polymerize dienes according to the polymer structures produced. It was shown that the highly anionic as well as the highly cationic catalyst systems with increasing ionic separation produced trans-poly-1,4-dienes. This is analogous to the production of syndiotactic polyolefins. 

Another review [36] discusses the determination of composition and structure, including tacticity, branching and end groups for diene polymers with the help of IR spectroscopy. 

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