Lewis Acid Polymeric

With the improvement of refining and purification techniques, many pure olefinic monomers are available for polymerization. Under Lewis acid polymerization, such as with boron trifluoride, very light colored resins are routinely produced. These resins are based on monomers such as styrene, a-methylstryene, and vinyltoluene (mixed meta- and i ra-methylstyrene). More recently, purified i ra-methylstyrene has become commercially available and is used in resin synthesis. Low molecular weight thermoplastic resins produced from pure styrene have been available since the mid-1940s resins obtained from substituted styrenes are more recent. 

An interesting bifunctional system with a combination of In(OTf)3 and benzoyl-quinine 65 was developed in p-lactam formation reaction from ketenes and an imino ester by Lectka [Eq. (13.40)]. High diastrereo- and enantioselectivity as well as high chemical yield were produced with the bifunctional catalysis. In the absence of the Lewis acid, polymerization of the acid chloride and imino ester occurred, and product yield was moderate. It was proposed that quinine activates ketenes (generated from acyl chloride in the presence of proton sponge) as a nucleophile to generate an enolate, while indium activates the imino ester, which favors the desired addition reaction (66) ... 

Use of Lewis acid anions, which disproportionate on heating to yield neutral Lewis acid polymerization initiators, improves the efficiency of this safety strategy. The most common Lewis acid anions and their associated elevated temperature disproportionation products are shown in the table. Since these anions exhibit significant dissociation equilibria at temperatures less than 100°C, they are not as useful for applications demanding long-term elevated temperature operation. 

Acid catalysis by Br nsted acids provided the first examples of cationic polymerization. The later discovered (but still before the salts) polymerization initiation and start by Lewis acids was not initially well understood. In many cases of polymerization started by Lewis acids, polymerization rates and degrees of polymerization were not very reproducible. Today, it is accepted that many pure Lewis acids cannot induce any polymerization at all in monomers of high degrees of purity, and that the initiator requires at least a trace of cocatalyst. Water, HCl, and CCI3COOH are examples of this kind of cocatalyst, but in certain cases alkyl halides and ether, the solvent used, or even the monomer itself are effective. Since it is difficult to free the initiator, monomer, solvent, and the reaction vessel from traces of these cocatalysts, the poor reproducibility in qualitative, and above all in quantitative, measurements is quite understandable. 

The catalysts for cationic polymerization are either protonic acids or Lewis acids, such as H2SO4 and HCIO4 or BF3, AICI3, and TiCl4 ... 

Under acidic conditions, furfuryl alcohol polymerizes to black polymers, which eventually become crosslinked and insoluble in the reaction medium. The reaction can be very violent and extreme care must be taken when furfuryl alcohol is mixed with any strong Lewis acid or Brn nstad acid. Copolymer resins are formed with phenoHc compounds, formaldehyde and/or other aldehydes. In dilute aqueous acid, the predominant reaction is a ring opening hydrolysis to form levulinic acid [123-76-2] (52). In acidic alcohoHc media, levulinic esters are formed. The mechanism for this unusual reaction in which the hydroxymethyl group of furfuryl alcohol is converted to the terminal methyl group of levulinic acid has recendy been elucidated (53). 

Friedel-Crafts (Lewis) acids have been shown to be much more effective in the initiation of cationic polymerization when in the presence of a cocatalyst such as water, alkyl haUdes, and protic acids. Virtually all feedstocks used in the synthesis of hydrocarbon resins contain at least traces of water, which serves as a cocatalyst. The accepted mechanism for the activation of boron trifluoride in the presence of water is shown in equation 1 (10). Other Lewis acids are activated by similar mechanisms. In a more general sense, water may be replaced by any appropriate electron-donating species (eg, ether, alcohol, alkyl haUde) to generate a cationic intermediate and a Lewis acid complex counterion. 

Cationic polymerization of coal-tar fractions has been commercially achieved through the use of strong protic acids, as well as various Lewis acids. Sulfuric acid was the first polymerization catalyst (11). More recent technology has focused on the Friedel-Crafts polymerization of coal fractions to yield resins with higher softening points and better color. Typical Lewis acid catalysts used in these processes are aluminum chloride, boron trifluoride, and various boron trifluoride complexes (12). Cmde feedstocks typically contain 25—75% reactive components and may be refined prior to polymerization (eg, acid or alkali treatment) to remove sulfur and other undesired components. Table 1 illustrates the typical components found in coal-tar fractions and their corresponding properties. 

G-5 Aliphatic Petroleum Resins. Carbocationic polymerization of C-5 feedstreams has been accomptished with various Friedel-Crafts catalyst systems. Table 3 compares the efficiencies of selected Lewis acids ia the polymerization of a typical C-5 stream containing 43 wt % C-5—C-6 diolefias and 47 wt % C-5—C-6 olefins (20). Based on weight percent yield of resia at equimolar coaceatratioas of catalyst (5.62 mmol/100 g), efficieacy follows AICI3 AlBr3 > BF3etherate-H20 > TiCfy > SnCl. The most commonly used catalyst in petroleum resin synthesis is AlCl. ... 

Due to the fact that BF is a weaker Lewis acid than AlCl, stmcturaHy distinct resins are obtained upon the respective polymerization of a piperylenes-2-methyl-2-butene system with the two different Lewis acids. Much lower levels of branched olefin are required to achieve a softening point of <40° C with the BF catalyzed system (33,36). In fact, due to its weaker acidity, BF is not useful for producing high softening point resins based on C-5 hydrocarbon feeds. 

The conversion of aromatic monomers relative to C-5—C-6 linear diolefins and olefins in cationic polymerizations may not be proportional to the feedblend composition, resulting in higher resin aromaticity as determined by nmr and ir measurements (43). This can be attributed to the differing reactivity ratios of aromatic and aHphatic monomers under specific Lewis acid catalysis. Intentional blocking of hydrocarbon resins into aromatic and aHphatic regions may be accomplished by sequential cationic polymerization employing multiple reactors and standard polymerization conditions (45). 

Hydrocarbon resins based on CPD are used heavily in the adhesive and road marking industries derivatives of these resins are used in the production of printing inks. These resins may be produced catalyticaHy using typical carbocationic polymerization techniques, but the large majority of these resins are synthesized under thermal polymerization conditions. The rate constants for the Diels-Alder based dimerization of CPD to DCPD are weU known (49). The abiHty to polymerize without Lewis acid catalysis reduces the amount of aluminous water or other catalyst effluents/emissions that must be addressed from an environmental standpoint. Both thermal and catalyticaHy polymerized DCPD/CPD-based resins contain a high degree of unsaturation. Therefore, many of these resins are hydrogenated for certain appHcations. 

The polymerization of ethyleneimine (16,354—357) is started by a catalyticaHy active reagent (H or a Lewis acid), which converts the ethyleneimine into a highly electrophilic initiator molecule. The initiator then reacts with nitrogen nucleophiles, such as the ethyleneimine monomer and the subsequendy formed oligomers, to produce a branched polymer, which contains primary, secondary, and tertiary nitrogen atoms in random ratios. Termination takes place by intramolecular macrocycle formation. 

A second type of uv curing chemistry is used, employing cationic curing as opposed to free-radical polymerization. This technology uses vinyl ethers and epoxy resins for the oligomers, reactive resins, and monomers. The initiators form Lewis acids upon absorption of the uv energy and the acid causes cationic polymerization. Although this chemistry has improved adhesion and flexibility and offers lower viscosity compared to the typical acrylate system, the cationic chemistry is very sensitive to humidity conditions and amine contamination. Both chemistries are used commercially. 

Lactams can also be polymerized under anhydrous conditions by a cationic mechanism initiated by strong protic acids, their salts, and Lewis acids, as weU as amines and ammonia (51—53). The complete reaction mechanism is complex and this approach has not as yet been used successfully in a commercial process. 

Few aHyl monomers have been polymerized to useful, weH-characterized products of high molecular weight by ionic methods, eg, by Lewis acid or base catalysts. Polymerization of the 1-alkenes by Ziegler catalysts is an exception. However, addition of acidic substances, at room temperature or upon heating, often gives viscous liquid low mol wt polymers, frequently along with by-products of uncertain stmcture. 

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