Photo-Fries polymers

The radiation induced side-chain modification of polymers containing pendant phenyl ester groups has been the object of several studies as some undergo a photo-Fries rearrangement (JJ while others such as... 

The present work deals with the photo-Fries rearrangement (PFR) and covers the literature appearing since the first report of Anderson and Reese to the beginning of 2002. It includes both the mechanistic aspects and the synthetic applications of this reaction. The topic of the PFR in polymers is also treated. In addition, a section has been devoted to the photo-Fries rearrangement in organized media, a field of recent interest. 

A considerable amount of attention has also been paid to the photo-Fries rearrangement of polymer pendant groups. For example, the rearrangement of poly (phenyl acrylate) (10,11) in solution or in the solid-state, is usually incomplete and results in the formation of both the ortho and the para-hydroxyphenone rearranged products in amounts which vary with the conditions of the photolysis. A concurrent side-reaction, which we term the Fries degradation, also results in the liberation of small amounts of phenol (Scheme 2). Similar results have been obtained with poly (phenyl methacrylate) and other substituted aryl acrylates (4,9,12). 

A thorough study of the photo-Fries rearrangement of poly(p-acetamido styrene) was made difficult by the lack of solubility of the polymer in solvents other than DMSO or DMF. Nevertheless, photoexposure of thin films of V cast from DMF solution confirmed the lack of reactivity of the polymer as only minimal conversions could be achieved even after long periods of exposure. 

Blends of iso- and terephthalates give amorphous, transparent resins, mosdy yellow in color. Heat-deflection temperatures are higher than those of 100% PC resins and depend on the iso- to terephthalate ratio. For example, a resin with a 1 1 ratio has a value of 160°C. These resins are flame retardant mechanical and electrical properties are similar to those of PC resins. The notched Izod impacts are lower at 150—300 J/m (4.7—5.6 fflbf/in.), even in thick sections. Long-term uv radiation stabilities are excellent, but yellowness increases during initial exposure owing to photo-Fries rearrangements (80), wherein 0-hydroxy-benzophenone units are produced along the polymer chains. 

Irradiation (313 nm) of films of polymers such as 1 leads to UV-Vis, IR, and solid-state 13C nmr changes attributed to a combination of 2 + 2 photocycloaddition and photo-Fries rearrangement [21], the latter presumably leading to cinna-moylphenol moieties, 2, in the irradiated polymer. Films irradiated at 313 nm in... 

The photo-Fries rearrangement of polymers such as 1 leads to yellowing, an undesirable behavior for many potential applications. The photochemistry of analogous MCLC polymers has been reported [30] in which the alkoxyphenyl ester groups of 1 have been replaced by 4,4 -franj-disubstituted cyclohexyl... 

The reactions analyzed here (and used to generate the initial radical pairs in the polymer media) can be separated into two distinct categories those that involve lysis of one molecule into two radicals (such as the Norrish Type 1, photo-Fries, and photo-Claisen reactions) and those that require bimolecular processes in which a part of one molecule is abstracted by another (e.g., H-atom abstractions from a phenol or an amine by the lowest energy triplet state of benzophenone). Each reaction produces either singlet or triplet radical pairs and, thus, allows the influence of spin multiplicity on radical pair reaction rates to be separated somewhat from other influences, such as the natures of the polymer matrices and the radical structures. Different methods for extracting rates of processes for the radicals from both static and dynamic data will be discussed. ... 

For polycarbonate the main photolytic reaction is the photo-Fries reaction (see Scheme 2). For this polymer the main questions are How important is the photo-Fries reaction and if it plays a role does it form free radicals that initiate the oxidation of the polymer ... 

Arenes of the type ArX-Y, where X may be O, S, or NR, frequently undergo facile photoinduced homolytic cleavage of the X-Y bond with the Y radical subsequently attacking the aromatic ring. The photo-Fries reaction is the most common process of this type and has been reported within the year for aromatic esters which form part of a ptolymer chain or are pendant groups on a polymer chain. In the former case, the rearrangement of fluorene-based polyacrylates [for example, (292)] was studied. Formation of the o-hydroxybenzophenone moiety in the product (293) was monitored by u.v. and... 

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