Photoinitiators-reactivity

During the past decade, the study of photoinitiated reactive and inelastic processes within weakly bound gaseous complexes has evolved into an active area of research in the field of chemical physics. Such specialized microscopic environments offer a number of unique opportunities which enable scientists to examine regiospecific interactions at a level of detail and precision that invites rigorous comparisons between experiment and theory. Specifically, many issues that lie at the heart of physical chemistry, such as reaction probabilities, chemical branching ratios, rates and dynamics of elementary chemical processes, curve crossings, caging, recombination, vibrational redistribution and predissociation, etc., can be studied at the state-to-state level and in real time. 

Photoinitiator reactivity studies were also performed with the aid of a Du Pont 930 differential scanning calorimeter. All the DPC experiments were conducted on 0,5-3 mg of the epoxy samples containing the photoinitiator. The samples were placed in aluminum pans and allowed to equilibrate... 

Due to the definition coreactive photoinitiators combine two different reactivities in one molecule and it has to be investigated first whether the photoinitiator reactivity is not remarkably decreased by an intra- or intermolecular influence of the coreactive group. 

These photoinitiators or photocatalysts are usually added to the reactive coating formulations in concentration ranges from less than 1 to 20 wt % based on the total formulation. 

Examples of typical photoinitiator systems used to cure reactive coating systems are as follows (80,81). The reactive systems are primarily unsaturated acryUc acid esters of different alcohol and polymer stmctures. 

Functionalized rubbers. Butyl rubber (isobutylene with about 2% iso-prene) has been functionalized through the residual double bonds via the bro-mobutyl intermediate to produce a material with 2% conjugated diene (see Fig. 19). This resin shows high reactivity towards e-beam or UV (free radical or cationic [53]). The bromo butyl intermediate has also been used to attach acrylate or photoinitiator groups to the butyl backbone [54]. 

Photoinitiators provide a convenient route for synthesizing vinyl polymers with a variety of different reactive end groups. Under suitable conditions, and in the presence of a vinyl monomer, a block AB or ABA copolymer can be produced which would otherwise be difficult or impossible to produce by another polymerization method. Moreover, synthesis of block copolymers by this route is much more versatile than those based on anionic polymerization, since a wider range of a monomers can be incorporated into the blocks. 

PCSs are systems of chromophores bound into a single macromolecule. Therefore, the study of processes of electronic excitation and energy transfer, as well as the investigation of the ways of deactivation of excited states, should lay a foundation for the understanding of such properties of PCSs as reactivity in photochemical transformations, photosensitizing and photoelectric activity, photoinitiated paramagnetism, etc. 

The S-S linkage of disulfides and the C-S linkage of certain sulfides can undergo photoinduced homolysis. The low reactivity of the sulfur-centered radicals in addition or abstraction processes means that primary radical termination can be a complication. The disulfides may also be extremely susceptible to transfer to initiator (Ci for 88 is ca 0.5, Sections 6.2.2.2 and 9.3.2). However, these features are used to advantage when the disulfides are used as initiators in the synthesis of tel ec he lies295 or in living radical polymerizations. 96 The most common initiators in this context are the dithiuram disulfides (88) which are both thermal and photochemical initiators. The corresponding monosulfides [e.g. (89)J are thermally stable but can be used as photoinitiators. The chemistry of these initiators is discussed in more detail in Section 9.3.2. 

Certain, Y, Y-dialkyl dithioearbamates [e,g. benzyl A)/V-diethyl dithiocarbamate (14)] and xanthates have been used as photoinitiators. Photodissociation of the C-S bond of these compounds yields a reactive alkyl radical (to initiate polymerization) and a less reactive sulfur-centered radical (to undergo primary-radical termination) as shown in Scheme 9.9.30 41 4 ... 

Under UV irradiation, the photoinitiator cleaves into radical fragments that react with the vinyl double bond and thus initiate the polymerization of the monomer. If the latter molecule contains at least two reactive sites, the polymerization will develop in three dimensions to yield a highly crosslinked polymer network. 

The photoinitiator selected for this study was 1-benzoyl cyclohexanol (Irgacure 184 from Ciba Geigy), a compound known for its high initiation efficiency and the weak coloration of its photoproducts. The multifunctional monomer was an epoxy-diacrylate derivative of bis-phenol A (Ebecryl 605 from UCB). A reactive diluent, tripropyleneglycol diacrylate, had to be introduced in equal amounts, in order to lower the viscosity of the formulation to about 0.3 Pa.s. 

Structure and Reactivity Relationships in the Photoinitiated Cationic Polymerization of 3,4-Epoxy cyclohexylmethyl-3, 4 -epoxy cyclohexane... 

To evaluate the reactivity of model compounds III-VIII in photoinitiated cationic polymerization, we have employed real-time infrared spectroscopy (RTIR). Thin film samples of the model compounds containing 0.5 mol% of (4-n-octyloxyphenyl)phenyliodonium SbF - as a photoinitiator were irradiated in a FTIR spectrometer at a UV intensity of 20 mW/cm2. During irradiation, the decrease in the absorbance of the epoxy ether band at 860 cm-1 was monitored. 

The reactivity of I in photoinitiated cationic polymerization is due to several factors associated with the structure of this monomer. Most importantly, the presence of the ester groups in I which can interact with oxiranium ions generated at either of the two epoxide groups both intra- and intermolecularly produces dioxacarbenium ions of reduced activity in the propagation reaction. Taking this into account, a series of diepoxides were prepared which did not possess ester groups. Some of these monomers show enhanced reactivity as measured by RTIR in photoinitiated cationic polymerization compared to I. 

Difunctional vinvl ether/difunctional N-maleimide. Up until this point, our results have centered on the reactivity of monofunctional maleimide divinyl ether mixtures. From Kloosterboer s26 work for acrylate polymerization, it is known that the rate of polymerization of a free-radical process is increased dramatically as the functionality of the acrylate is increased. In order to enhance the polymerization rates of maleimide divinyl ether systems, it was decided to synthesize difimctional maleimides for copolymerization with difunctional vinyl ethers. The results in Table V indicate that the photoinitiated TTDBM [bismaleimide made from maleic anhydride and 4,7,10-... 

Dual Photo/Thermal Initiation Studies. A series of studies were performed using reactive formulations containing both a photoinitiator and a thermal initiator dissolved in the Derakane resin. The objective of these studies was to investigate a dual cure strategy in which the heat liberated by the photo-induced polymerization leads to the production of additional active centers by the dissociation of a thermal initiator. In this way, the dual cure strategy could offer both the temporal control of the start of the reaction afforded by the photopolymerization, as well as enhanced reaction rate and completeness of cure provided by the thermal initiation. 

The formulation which performed best contained 1% BAPO/HMPP photoinitiator, 50% acrylate ester of bisphenol A epoxy (Ebecryl 3700), 45% reactive diluent, 5% pigment, and a few drops of the fluorocarbon surfactant FC-171. 

If the reactive species in the chemical activation step initiates a radical chain with a chain length CL, then the overall quantum yield based on the ultimate product is X CL, and can be greater than 1. Photons are rather expensive reagents, and are only used when the product is of substantial value or when the overall quantum yield is large. Examples are the use of photoinitiators for the curing of coatings (a radical-polymerization process (Section 7.3.1)), and the transformation of complex molecules as medications. 

Photochemically-generated radicals are encountered as reactive intermediates in many important systems, being a major driving force in the photochemistry of ozone in the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) and the polluted lower atmosphere (troposphere). The photochemistry of organic carbonyl compounds is dominated by radical chemistry (Chapter 9). Photoinitiators are used to form radicals used as intermediates in the chain growth and cross-linking of polymers involved in the production of electronic circuitry and in dental treatment. 

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