Polyethers, from epoxides

Some mechanism aspects of epoxide polymerization. Stereochemical structure of the crystalline polyethers from the 2,3-epoxybutanes. J. Polymer Sci.B2,1085 (1964). 

In addition to step and chain polymerizations, another mode of polymerization is of importance. This is the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic monomers such as cyclic ethers, esters (lactones), amides (lactams), and siloxanes. Examples of commercially important types are given in Table 10.1. Of those listed, only the polyalkenes are composed solely of carbon chains. Those that have enjoyed the longest history of commercial exploitation are polyethers prepared from three-membered ring cyclic ethers (epoxides), polyamides from cyclic amides (lactams), and polysiloxanes from cyclic siloxanes. 

Lewis acid-assisted high-speed living anionic polymerization can be applied not only to the accelerated synthesis of naiTOw MWD poly(methacrylic esters) but also to the synthesis of polyethers from epoxides (11) and polyesters from lactones (14 and 15) with aluminum porphyrins as initiators. Furthermore, ring-opening polymerization of episulfides (18) with zinc AT-substituted porphyrins (5) can also be accelerated by Lewis acids. 

Epoxy Resins. Epoxy resins (qv) or polyether resins are thermosets used as the binder for terrazzo dooring. The epoxy resin often is made from epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A. An excess of epichlorohydrin is used to assure that the intermediate product contains terminal epoxide groups. 

In 1957, it was discovered that organometaUic catalysts gave high mol wt polymers from epoxides (3). The commercially important, largely amorphous polyether elastomers developed as a result of this early work are polyepichlorohydrin (ECH) (4,5), ECH—ethylene oxide (EO) copolymer (6), ECH—aUyl glycidyl ether (AGE) copolymer (7,8), ECH—EO—AGE terpolymer (8), ECH—propylene oxide (PO)—AGE terpolymer (8,9), and PO—AGE copolymer (10,11). The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has designated these polymers as follows ... 

A reiterative application of a two-carbon elongation reaction of a chiral carbonyl compound (Homer-Emmonds reaction), reduction (DIBAL) of the obtained trans unsaturated ester, asymmetric epoxidation (SAE or MCPBA) of the resulting allylic alcohol, and then C-2 regioselective addition of a cuprate (Me2CuLi) to the corresponding chiral epoxy alcohol has been utilized for the construction of the polypropionate-derived chain ]R-CH(Me)CH(OH)CH(Me)-R ], present as a partial structure in important natural products such as polyether, ansamycin, or macro-lide antibiotics [52]. A seminal application of this procedure is offered by Kishi s synthesis of the C19-C26 polyketide-type aliphatic segment of rifamycin S, starting from aldehyde 105 (Scheme 8.29) [53]. 

Polyether. A polymer in which the repeating unit includes a carbon-oxygen bond derived from aldehydes, epoxides, poly alcohols or similar materials (Refs 1 4a). 

The formation of relatively ill-defined catalysts for epoxide/C02 copolymerization catalysts, arising from the treatment of ZnO with acid anhydrides or monoesters of dicarboxylic acids, has been described in a patent disclosure.968 Employing the perfluoroalkyl ester acid (342) renders the catalyst soluble in supercritical C02.969 At 110°C and 2,000 psi this catalyst mixture performs similarly to the zinc bisphenolates, producing a 96 4 ratio of polycarbonate polyether linkages, with a turnover of 440 g polymer/g [Zn] and a broad polydispersity (Mw/Mn>4). Related aluminum complexes have also been studied and (343) was found to be particularly active. However, selectivity is poor, with a ratio of 1 3.6 polycarbonate polyether.970... 

Epoxy resins are really polyethers but are named epoxies because of the presence of epoxide groups in the starting material. They were initially synthesized from epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A in the 1940s. General properties are listed in Table 4.9. 

PO proceeded in a living manner to yield highly regioregular polyethers with narrow MWDs. These authors also developed the immortal polymerization of epoxides where polymers with narrow MWDs were obtained with the number of polymer chains exceeding the number of initial aluminum-porphyrin complexes (Scheme I). The key in the immortal polymerization is a reversible chain transfer, which is much more rapid than the chain propagation. In the presence of an alcohol (R OH) as a chain-transfer reagent, an aluminum-porphyrin complex with a growing species reacts with R OH reversibly, so that the polymerization takes place from all the molecules of aluminum-porphyrin complex and R OH. 

Immortal polymerization of epoxides with la and an alcohol is also accelerated by co-use of bulky Lewis acid 2a. The polymerization of PO with la/2-propanol system ([PO]/[la]/[2-propanol] = 1000/1/49) in the presence of 2a ([PO]/[2a] = 1000/1) proceeds rapidly to achieve 86% conversion in 1.5 h, while the polymerization in the absence of 2a requires 380 h to reach 84% conversion (Table 1). The polyether produced in the presence of 2a has an of 900 gmoP and an MJM of 1.10, which indicates that almost all of la and 2-propanol participate in the initiation of the polymerization. Other protic chain-transfer reagents, such as methanol, benzyl alcohol, and 4-/ r/-butylphenol, are also applicable to the high-speed immortal polymerization to give similar results as 2-propanol. As a substrate, ECH is also employable. Polymerization of ECH ([EGH]/[la]/[2-propanol]/[2a] = 1000/1/49/1) gives a polymer with and/n of 1100gmol close to the value estimated from the conversion and [PO]/([la] + [2-propanol]) ratio, and a narrow M IM of 1.10, while the conversion is lower than the case of PO. 

Farthing, A. C. Polymers from 1,3- and higher epoxides in high polymers. Vol. XIII, Chapter V. Polyethers Part I. Polyalkylene oxides and other polyethers. Ed. by N. G. Gaylord. New York Interscience Publishers 1963. 

The first report of the copolymerization of an epoxide, namely, ethylene oxide and C02 is contained in a patent by Stevens [6]. However, this process, when carried out in the presence of polyhydric phenols, provided polymers which were viscous liquids or waxes possessing copious polyether linkages with only a few incorporated C02 units. The earliest metal-catalyzed copolymerization of epoxides and C02 was reported in 1969 by Inoue and coworkers, who employed a heterogeneous catalyst system derived from a 1 1 mixture of diethylzinc and H20 [7, 8], Subsequently, Kuran and coworkers investigated a group of related catalysts prepared from diethylzinc and di- and triprotic sources such as pyrogallol, with a slight improvement over Inoue s system for the production of polypropylene carbonate) from PO and C02 [9],... 

As a second example, there is a wide variety of breakdown products and oligomeric products that may be formed from the reactive monomers that are the building blocks of plastics. For plastics, the general assumption has been that any side-reaction products and breakdown products are likely to be significantly less toxic than the monomers, and so restricting the migration of the monomer was accepted as an indirect way to limit any hazard from the oligomers also. Whilst this approach is probably acceptable for addition polymers, such as those made from the unsaturated monomers vinyl chloride, butadiene and acrylonitrile where the unsaturated monomer is far more noxious than their products, the validity of this means of indirect control is questionable for condensation polymers such as polyesters and for polyethers formed from epoxide monomers. 

Write the structure of a polyether derived from polymerization of a given epoxide. 

The Shi epoxidation has found several applications in total synthesis [15]. Particularly attractive are examples in which it has been used to establish the stereochemistry of polyepoxides which can undergo cascade cyclizations to polyether products, mimicking possible biosynthetic pathways. An example is the construction of the tetahydrofuran rings of the natural product glabrescol via highly stereoselective formation of the tetraepoxide 10 from the polyene 9 (Scheme 12.6) [22]. 

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