Poly syndiotactic stereochemistry

The same type of addition—as shown by X-ray analysis—occurs in the cationic polymerization of alkenyl ethers R—CH=CH—OR and of 8-chlorovinyl ethers (395). However, NMR analysis showed the presence of some configurational disorder (396). The stereochemistry of acrylate polymerization, determined by the use of deuterated monomers, was found to be strongly dependent on the reaction environment and, in particular, on the solvation of the growing-chain-catalyst system at both the a and jS carbon atoms (390, 397-399). Non-solvated contact ion pairs such as those existing in the presence of lithium catalysts in toluene at low temperature, are responsible for the formation of threo isotactic sequences from cis monomers and, therefore, involve a trans addition in contrast, solvent separated ion pairs (fluorenyllithium in THF) give rise to a predominantly syndiotactic polymer. Finally, in mixed ether-hydrocarbon solvents where there are probably peripherally solvated ion pairs, a predominantly isotactic polymer with nonconstant stereochemistry in the jS position is obtained. It seems evident fiom this complexity of situations that the micro-tacticity of anionic poly(methyl methacrylate) cannot be interpreted by a simple Bernoulli distribution, as has already been discussed in Sect. III-A. 

There are three principal stereochemical types of poly(l-alkene)s, illustrated in Scheme 8.38 for polypropylene. In isotactic polypropylene 80 (i-PP) all methyl substituents have the same relative orientation (m). The scheme shows the stereochemistry with the usual Fischer projection underneath. In syndiotactic PP (81, s-PP) every second CHMe unit has the opposite stereochemistry to the first, while in atactic PP (82, a-PP) the orientation of the methyl substituents is random. In some polymers there is partial order, i. e. only every second monomer orientation is random (83, hemi-isotactic PP). 

The microstructure of the discussed cycloaliphatic polymers concerns the cis-trans geometrical isomerism of the rings and the relative stereochemistry between the rings. A modified Bovey m-r nomenclature [507] provides a useful description of the microstructure of poly(methylene-l,3-cycloalkane)s, where capital letters (M for mesogenic, R for racemic) denote the stereochemistry of the rings and lower case letters ( m and r) denote the relative stereochemistry between the rings [503], Therefore, cA-isotactic, tram-isotactic, cA-syndiotactic and tram-syndiotactic cyclopolymers may be formed. As in many other cases, 13C NMR spectroscopy reveals information about both the tacticity of the polymer and the ratio of cis to treins rings. 

At present, no evidence exists for long runs of either meso or racemic placements in the Wurtz dechlorination reaction used in the synthesis of polysilylenes. Deviation from a random stereochemical polymerization has been suggested by West et al. (3) in the case of poly(phenylmethylsilylene) (PPMS). An analysis of Si NMR triads indicates that addition of monomer units with the same stereochemistry is preferred, which results in an increase in the intensity of syndiotactic and isotactic triad structures compared with a random stereochemical polymerization. 

Inoue et al. ( ) found that a porphyrin-Zn alkyl catalyst polymerized methyloxirane to form a polymer having syndio-rich tacticity. The relative population of the triad tacticities suggests that the stereochemistry of the placement of incoming monomer is controlled by the chirality of the terminal and penultimate units in the growing chain. There is no chirality around the Zn-porphyrin complex. Achiral zinc complex forms syndio-rich poly(methyloxirane), while chiral zinc complex, as stated above, forms isotactic-rich poly(methyloxirane). The situation is just the same as that for propylene polymerizations. Achiral vanadium catalyst produces syndiotactic polypropylene, while chiral titanium catalyst produces isotactic polypropylene. 

Figure 9 Structures of syndiotactic (regular alternating of stereochemistry along the polymer chain), isotactic (same stereochemistry across the polymer chain), and atactic (random stereochemistry along the polymer chain) poly-...

Stereochemistry is also important in determining properties of polyblands. For example, syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) is miscible with poly(vinyl chloride) at certain concentrations, whereas the isotactic form is immiscible over the entire composition range [66]. 

As mentioned before (Section II,E,3), the determination of tac-ticity by X-ray analysis is limited by the requirement that the polymer be crystalline. For the study of poly (methyl methacrylate), which may or may not be crystalline, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been more useful. In order to interpret the spectra, it has been found necessary to describe the stereochemistry of a unit by the configurations on both sides. Therefore, an isotactic configuration, or isotactic triad, is one where the central unit is fianked by units of the same asymmetry, that is ddd or III. Similarly, for a syndiotactic triad, the stereochemistry is did or Idl. To overcome the disadvantages of the term atactic, a new term heterotactic was introduced. The stereochemistry for heterotactic configurations is, therefore, Idd, dll, lid, and ddl. 

The monomer 7-methylnorbornadiene (7-MeNBD) also undergoes polymerization in the presence of several conventional metathesis catalysts to form poly(7-MeNBD). It is noteworthy that the catalyst OSCI3 (in 1 1 EtOH/PhCl) leads to polymer stereochemistry that is significantly different from that of poly(fl fi-7-MeNB). The OsC -derived polymer of the monoolefin contains predominantly atactic trans olefin structures, whereas the analogous diolefin polymer is composed of nearly exclusively cis alkene structures (97%) and predominantly syndiotactic dyads (r m = 75 25 through the NMR signals of the methyl substituent at 8 16.2-17.0 ppm)." The catalysts Reds... 

Poly(methacrylic acid) was synthesized by cobalt-60 irradiation [534,535] in various solvents. The stereochemistry of the polymer chain depends on the molecular structure of the solvent. Syndiotacticity increases with decreasing polymerization temperature. Resulting molar masses are in the range 40,000 to 80,000. Using this method, highly disperse poly(methacrylic acid) and poly(acrylic acid) were prepared by Beddows et al. [536]. After 10 h of irradiation with 36 krad/h at 0 °C in the solid state, O Donnell got polymers with a molar mass of 450,000 [537]. 

There is still no resolution on the effect of macroligand stereochemistry on complex formation. A particular case is the formation of a complex between P2ViPy and MCI2 (M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn). In that case, the order of reactivity is as follows atactic > isotactic > crosslinked. However, the rate of complex formation for isotactic poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc) with Cu is 1.5 times greater than for the syndiotactic form, and the E for these reactions is 6.0 and T.Okcal moP, respectively. 

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