Phase-transfer polymerization

In the phase transfer polymerization reactions, if one assumes a simple ion exchange at the interface (liquid-liquid or solid-liquid) ( ) (Equation 4)... 

The water content greatly influences the activity and the molecular weight of PTMG, as shown in Fig. 25. At the ratio of H2O/PW12O40 = 10, the reaction mixture consists of two liquid phases the upper phase is mainly THF and the lower phase is the complex of H3PW12O40 and THF (in the catalyst phase). The THF polymer is formed in the catalyst phase and is transferred to the THF phase. This phase-transfer polymerization is illustrated in Fig. 26. 

Fig. 26. Reaction model of phase-transfer polymerization. (From Ref. 164.)...

Fig. 2. Phase-transfer polymerization between bisphenol A and 1,6-dibromohexane in the presence of 2 mole % catalyst. Excess (20 mole %) NaOH or KOH was used.

Fig. 6. Phase-transfer polymerization mechanism between bisphenols and 1,6-dibromohexane in H20/nitrobenzence mixture.

A method for the polymerization of polysulfones in nondipolar aprotic solvents has been developed and reported (9,10). The method reUes on phase-transfer catalysis. Polysulfone is made in chlorobenzene as solvent with (2.2.2)cryptand as catalyst (9). Less reactive crown ethers require dichlorobenzene as solvent (10). High molecular weight polyphenylsulfone can also be made by this route in dichlorobenzene however, only low molecular weight PES is achievable by this method. Cross-linked polystyrene-bound (2.2.2)cryptand is found to be effective in these polymerizations which allow simple recovery and reuse of the catalyst. 

Organic Reagents. Amine oxides are used ia synthetic organic chemistry ia the preparation of olefins, or phase-transfer catalysts (47), ia alkoxylation reactions (48), ia polymerization, and as oxidizing agents (49,50). 

There are two very active special fields of phase-transfer appHcations that transcend classes (/) and 2) metal—organic reactions both with and without added bases, and polymer chemistry. Certain chemical modifications of side groups, polycondensations, and radical polymerizations can be influenced favorably by PTC. 

The terminal R groups can be aromatic or aliphatic. Typically, they are derivatives of monohydric phenoHc compounds including phenol and alkylated phenols, eg, /-butylphenol. In iaterfacial polymerization, bisphenol A and a monofunctional terminator are dissolved in aqueous caustic. Methylene chloride containing a phase-transfer catalyst is added. The two-phase system is stirred and phosgene is added. The bisphenol A salt reacts with the phosgene at the interface of the two solutions and the polymer "grows" into the methylene chloride. The sodium chloride by-product enters the aqueous phase. Chain length is controlled by the amount of monohydric terminator. The methylene chloride—polymer solution is separated from the aqueous brine-laden by-products. The facile separation of a pure polymer solution is the key to the interfacial process. The methylene chloride solvent is removed, and the polymer is isolated in the form of pellets, powder, or slurries. 

The refined grade s fastest growing use is as a commercial extraction solvent and reaction medium. Other uses are as a solvent for radical-free copolymerization of maleic anhydride and an alkyl vinyl ether, and as a solvent for the polymerization of butadiene and isoprene usiag lithium alkyls as catalyst. Other laboratory appHcations include use as a solvent for Grignard reagents, and also for phase-transfer catalysts. 

A good deal of work has been done on polymeric crown ethers during the last decade. Hogen Esch and Smid have been major contributors from the point of view of cation binding properties, and Blasius and coworkers have been especially interested in the cation selectivity of such species. Montanari and coworkers have developed a number of polymer-anchored crowns for use as phase transfer catalysts. Manecke and Storck have recently published a review titled Polymeric Catalysts , which may be useful to the reader in gaining additional perspective. 

The thermotropic aromatic main chain liquid crystalline polymers are also prepared by the phase transfer catalyzed aromatic nucleophilic polymerization [87]. Polyetherification of bis(4-chloro-3-nitrophenyl) sulfone with mesogenic aromatic diols is shown below ... 

Recently, Deligoz and Yilmaz [24,25] described the preparation of two polymeric calix[4]arene tetra esters (Scheme 4) and their Na -complexation. Based on phase-transfer experiments with these compounds using alkali picrates in water-dichloromethane, they confirmed that polymers are as Na selective as monomers. 

Selective extraction experiments were then performed to see transference of some transition elements (Cu ", Ni ", Co ", and Fe " ) from the aqueous phase to the organic phase by the synthesized polymeric calixarenes. Phase-transfer studies in water-chloroform confirmed that polymer 2b and 3b were Fe ion-selective as was its monomer (1). Extraction of Fe " cation with 2b and 3b was observed to be maximum at pH 5.4. Only trace amounts of other metal cations such as Cu, Ni ", and Co " were transferred from the aqueous to the organic phase (Table 3). Furthermore, the extracted quantities of these cations remained unaffected with increasing pH. The effect of pH on the extraction of 3b was lower and 56% extraction was accomplished even at pH 2.2. The extraction experiments were also performed with calix[4]arene (1) the ratio was 8.4% at pH 2.2. The polymeric calix[4]arenes were selective to extract Fe " from an aqueous solution, which contained Cu +, Ni, Co ", and Fe " cations, and it was observed that the... 

Dichloro monomers can also be polymerized with bisphenols in the presence of fluorides as promoting agents.78 The fluoride ions promote the displacement of the chloride sites to form more reactive fluoride sites, which react with phenolate anion to form high-molecular-weight polymers. Adding 5-10 mol % phase transfer catalysts such as A-alkyl-4-(dialkylamino)pyridium chlorides significantly increased the nucleophilicity and solubility of phenoxide anion and thus shortened the reaction time to one fifth of the uncatalyzed reaction to achieve the same molecular weight.79... 

Preparation of siloxane-carbonate segmented copolymers by interfacial polymerization involves the reaction of carboxypropyl-terminated siloxane oligomers with bisphenol-A and phosgene, in the presence of a strong base and a phase transfer catalyst, in water/methylene chloride solvent system l50 192), as shown in Reaction Scheme XIV. 

Reduction of azides is a classical approach to primary amine synthesis. Treatment of 17 with sodium azide in DMF or in THF/H2O mixtures in the presence of phase transfer catalysts effects a quantitative conversion to the corresponding polymeric azide, 27. Recently the reduction of azides to primary amines via hydrolysis of iminophosphoranes produced by interaction of the azide with triethyl phosphite was reported.30 Application of this technique to the azidomethyl polymer, 27, as shown below, failed to produce a soluble polyamine. 

Quaternary ammonium azides will displace halogens in a synthesis of alkyl azides. Dichloromethane has been used as a solvent, although this can slowly form diazido-methane which may be concentrated by distillation dining work-up, thereafter easily exploding [1]. An accident attributed to this cause is described, and acetonitrile recommended as a preferable solvent, supported polymeric azides, excess of which can be removed by filtration are also preferred in place of the tetrabutylam-monium salt [2]. A similar explosion was previously recorded when the quaternary azide was generated in situ from sodium azide and a phase transfer catalyst in a part aqueous system [3,4],... 

Another palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction that has been successfully performed on soluble polymers is the Sonogashira coupling. Xia and Wang have presented an approach in which the PEG 4000 utilized simultaneously serves as polymeric support, solvent, and phase-transfer catalyst (PTC) in both the coupling and... 

Crown ethers attached to insoluble polymeric substrates (see the following discussion for examples) have been used as phase transfer catalysts for liquid/liquid systems. In using such systems, the catalyst forms a third insoluble phase the procedure being referred to as triphase catalysis (Regen, 1979). This arrangement has the advantage that, on completion of the reaction, the catalyst may be readily separated from the reaction solution and recycled (Montanari, Landini Rolla, 1982). As... 

Typical systems. A considerable number of immobilized polyether systems have been synthesized both for phase transfer catalysis as just discussed and for use in a number of analytical applications. Such immobilized systems are generally synthesized by either copolymerization of suitably functionalized macrocycles in the presence of cross-linking agents or by appending functionalized macrocycles to existing polymeric substrates. Structures (184)-(186) give examples of different... 

The simplest model compound is cyclohexene oxide III. Monomers IV, V and VII represent different aspects of the ester portion of I, while monomers VII and VIII reflect aspects of both the monomer I and the polymer which is formed by cationic ring-opening polymerization. Monomers IV-VII were prepared using a phase transfer catalyzed epoxidation based on the method of Venturello and D Aloisio (6) and employed previously in this laboratory (7). This method was not effective for the preparation of monomer VIII. In this specific case (equation 4), epoxidation using Oxone (potassium monoperoxysulfate) was employed. 

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