Ethylene glycol, poly condensation with

The end capped pol)nneric diols were obtained by the direct poly-condensation of /-lactic acid in the presence of 1,4-butanediol and by the condensation of succinic acid with excessive ethylene glycol, respectively. Polymers with high molecular weights of more than 200 k D were obtained. The polyfester urethane) exhibit excellent tensile properties (19). 

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)... 

Nitriles react with alcohols in the presence of hydrochloric acid to form iminoester hydrochlorides, which are hydrolyzed to the esters (Pinner synthesis). Heitz and coworkers [21-23] published several fine papers on the polyazoester synthesis from the reaction of a series of poly(oxyethylene) glycol or poly(oxypropylene) glycol and AIBN in the presence of dry hydrochloric acid at 0-5°C according to Pinner synthesis. Condensation reactions of ACPC and dihydroxy terminated poly(oxy-ethylene) glycol yield polyazoesters [24,25]. 

Concerning the reaction of ACPC with diols, the frequent use of poly(ethylene glycol) has to be mentioned [20-24]. Ueda et al. ([22-24]) reacted preformed poly(ethylene glycol) (Mn between 6 x 10 to 2 x 10 ) with ACPC. In this case, unlike the reaction of ACPA with diols vide ante), no additional condensation agent was needed. The ethylene glycol-based thermally labile polymers were used to produce blocks with poly(vinyl chloride) [22], poly(styrene) [23], poly(methyl acrylate), poly(vinyl acetate), and poly(acrylonitrile) [24]. 

Apart from poly(ethylene glycol), other hydroxyl-terminated polymers and low-molecular weight compounds were condensed with ACPC. An interesting example is the reaction of ACPC with preformed poly(bu-tadiene) possessing terminal OH groups [26]. The reaction was carried out in chloroform solution and (CH3CH2)3N was used as a catalyst. MAIs based on butadiene thus obtained were used for the thermally induced block copolymerization with styrene [26] and dimethyl itaconate [27]. 

The formation of a polymeric initiator containing azo and peroxy groups has been reported by Hazer et al. [80]. In this paper, poly(ethylene glycol) (M 4 x 10. .. 3 X 10 ) was condensed with AIBN vide ante)... 

Since it is also a poly condensation polymer, the preparation of PEN from dimethyl 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate (NDC) is similar to the preparation of PET from dimethyl 1,4-terephthalate (DMT) by combining a diacid ester (NDC) with ethylene glycol. In view of the fact that the commercial-scale production of PEN resin starts with 2,6-NDC, the production process is similar to that used for the production of PET from DMT. There are two main steps for the process (Scheme 10.1) [11]. 

FIGURE 4.5 Plot of average chain length DP, as a function of reaction time for the acid-catalyzed condensation of ethylene glycol with terephthalic acid producing poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). 

The concept of transesterifications was used for polymerization reactions by Hedrick and colleagues [76]. Various biodegradable polyesters were synthesized with the l,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene carbene in THF at 25 °C. Polymers such as poly(e-caprolactone) were obtained with no need of organometallic catalysts, as in classical methods. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) 97 was synthesized in the ionic liquid 98, which functions as the reaction medium and, at the same time, as a precatalyst that is activated (99) with KOt-Bu. Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) 100 was condensed with an excess of ethylene glycol 101 to generate 102. The melt condensation of 102 was performed under vacuum using a heating ramp to 280 °C. 

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