Condensation polymer polyesters

In Chapter 25 it will be shown that polyesters, condensation polymers containing the repeat -COO- group, may be produced by reactions analogous to the methods used to produce polyamides as summarised in the first section of this chapter. It... 

A variety of polyester-condensation polymers are made commercially. Ester interchange (Section 18-7 A) appears to be the most useful reaction for preparation of linear polymers ... 

An example of the type of condensation polymers which could be synthesized is the polyester condensation polymer of controlled molecular weight and terminal functionality illustrated in the following equation (10) ... 

A modification of the condensation copolymer compounds involves incorporating anionic character into the polymer chain by use of sulfonated monomers. The necessary hydrophilicity is provided by the sulfonated blocks (Fig. 7.8). Like the other polyester condensation polymers, these anionic products can be applied by exhaust or padding. The exhaustion efficiency can be significantly improved by adding small amounts of magnesium chloride to the application bath. 

ETHYLENE We discussed ethylene production in an earlier boxed essay (Section 5 1) where it was pointed out that the output of the U S petrochemi cal industry exceeds 5 x 10 ° Ib/year Approximately 90% of this material is used for the preparation of four compounds (polyethylene ethylene oxide vinyl chloride and styrene) with polymerization to poly ethylene accounting for half the total Both vinyl chloride and styrene are polymerized to give poly(vinyl chloride) and polystyrene respectively (see Table 6 5) Ethylene oxide is a starting material for the preparation of ethylene glycol for use as an an tifreeze in automobile radiators and in the produc tion of polyester fibers (see the boxed essay Condensation Polymers Polyamides and Polyesters in Chapter 20)... 

Polyesters are a second class of condensation polymers and the principles behind their synthesis parallel those of polyamides Ester formation between the functional groups of a dicarboxylic acid and a diol... 

Condensation polymers such as polyesters and polyamides are especially well suited to this method of molecular weight determination. For one thing, the molecular weight of these polymers is usually less than for addition polymers. Even more pertinent to the method is the fact that the chain ends in these molecules consist of unreacted functional groups. Using polyamides as an example, we can readily account for the following possibilities ... 

Condensation polymers prepared with some monomer of functionality greater than 2, for example, a polyester formed with some glycerol or tricarboxylic acid. 

Uses. The largest uses of butanediol are internal consumption in manufacture of tetrahydrofuran and butyrolactone (145). The largest merchant uses are for poly(butylene terephthalate) resins (see Polyesters,thermoplastic) and in polyurethanes, both as a chain extender and as an ingredient in a hydroxyl-terminated polyester used as a macroglycol. Butanediol is also used as a solvent, as a monomer for vadous condensation polymers, and as an intermediate in the manufacture of other chemicals. 

The packaging (qv) requirements for shipping and storage of thermoplastic resins depend on the moisture that can be absorbed by the resin and its effect when the material is heated to processing temperatures. Excess moisture may result in undesirable degradation during melt processing and inferior properties. Condensation polymers such as nylons and polyesters need to be specially predried to very low moisture levels (3,4), ie, less than 0.2% for nylon-6,6 and as low as 0.005% for poly(ethylene terephthalate) which hydrolyzes faster. 

Heteroatom Chain Backbone Polymers. This class of polymers includes polyesters, which have been widely studied from the initial period of research on biodegradable polymers, polyamides, polyethers, polyacetals, and other condensation polymers. Their linkages are quite frequendy found in nature and these polymers are more likely to biodegrade than hydrocarbon-based polymers. 

Reaction of polyhydroxy compounds with polybasic acids gives rise to condensation polymers containing ester (—COO—) groups. Because of the presence of these groups such polycondensates are known as polyesters and find use in such diverse applications as fibres, surface coatings, plasticisers, rubbers and laminating resins. These materials are discussed in detail in Chapter 25. 

With one exception no other high molecular weight linear polyesters have achieved any sort of commercial significance for films and fibres. The one exception is the condensation polymer of dimethyl terephthalate and 1,4-cyclo-hexylene glycol (also known as 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol) (Figure 25.19). 

Since the last edition several new materials have been aimounced. Many of these are based on metallocene catalyst technology. Besides the more obvious materials such as metallocene-catalysed polyethylene and polypropylene these also include syndiotactic polystyrenes, ethylene-styrene copolymers and cycloolefin polymers. Developments also continue with condensation polymers with several new polyester-type materials of interest for bottle-blowing and/or degradable plastics. New phenolic-type resins have also been announced. As with previous editions I have tried to explain the properties of these new materials in terms of their structure and morphology involving the principles laid down in the earlier chapters. 

Synthetic resins form the heart of the paint industry. The tw o main types of synthetic resins are condensation polymers and addition polymers. Condensation polymers, formed by condensation of like or unlike molecules into a new, more complex compound, include polyesters, phenolics.. iniino resins, polyurethane, and epoxies. Addition polymers include polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, and the acrylates,... 

Condensation polymer (Section 20.17) Polymer in which the bonds that connect the monomers are formed by condensation reactions. Typical condensation polymers include polyesters and polyamides. 

Another important type of condensation polymer are the linear polyesters, such as poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT). Copolymers of polyesters and PA have been studied in detail, and it has been shown that random copolyesteramides have a low structural order and a low melting temperature. This is even the case for structurally similar systems such as when the group between the ester unit is the same as that between the amide unit, as in caprolactam-caprolactone copolymers (Fig. 3.10).22 Esters and amide units have different cell structures and the structures are not therefore isomorphous. If block copolymers are formed of ester and amide segments, then two melting temperatures are present. 

In condensation polymers, the monomers are linked together by condensation reactions, like those used to form ester or amide links. Polymers formed by linking together monomers that have carboxylic acid groups with those that have alcohol groups are called polyesters. Polymers of this type are widely used to make artificial fibers. A typical polyester is Dacron, or Terylene, a polymer produced from the... 

STRATEGY (a) Look at the backbone of the polymer, the long chain to which the other groups are attached. If the atoms are all carbon atoms, then the compound is an addition polymer. If ester groups are present in the backbone, then the polymer is a polyester and the monomers will be an acid and an alcohol. If the backbone contains amide groups, then the polymer is a polyamide and the monomers will be an acid and an amine, (b) If the monomer is an alkene or alkvne, then the monomers will add to one another a Tr-bond will be replaced by new cr-bonds between the monomers. If the monomers are an add and an alcohol or amine, then a condensation polymer forms with the loss of a molecule of water. 

Most condensation polymers are formed by the reaction of a carboxylic acid with an alcohol to form a polyester or with an amine to form a polyamide. 

Another classification system, first suggested by Carothers in 1929, is based on the nature of the chemical reactions employed in the polymerisation. Here the two major groups are the condensation and the addition polymers. Condensation polymers are those prepared from monomers where reaction is accompanied by the loss of a small molecule, usually of water, for example polyesters which are formed by the condensation shown in Reaction 1.1. 

The most common form of step growth polymerization is condensation polymerization. Condensation polymers are generally formed from simple reactions involving two different monomers. The monomers are difunctional, having a chemically reactive group on each end of their molecules. Examples of condensation polymerization are the formation of nylon 66, a polyamide, and of poly(ethylene terephthalate), a polyester. Because condensation poly-... 

In 1929 Carothers proposed a generally useful differentiation between two broad classes of polymers condensation polymers in which the molecular formula of the structural unit (or units) lacks certain atoms present in the monomer from which it is formed, or to which it may be degraded by chemical means, and addition polymers, in which the molecular formula of the structural unit (or units) is identical with that of the monomer from which the polymer is derived. Condensation polymers may be formed from monomers bearing two or more reactive groups of such a character that they may condense intermolecu-larly with the elimination of a by-product, often water. The polyamides and polyesters referred to above afford prime examples of condensation polymers. The formation of a polyester from a suitable hydroxy acid takes place as follows ... 

Although polymers in-service are required to be resistant toward hydrolysis and solar degradation, for polymer deformulation purposes hydrolysis is an asset. Highly crystalline materials such as compounded polyamides are difficult to extract. For such materials hydrolysis or other forms of chemolysis render additives accessible for analysis. Polymers, which may profitably be depolymerised into their monomers by hydrolysis include PET, PBT, PC, PU, PES, POM, PA and others. Hydrolysis occurs when moisture causes chain scissions to occur within the molecule. In polyesters, chain scissions take place at the ester linkages (R-CO-O-R ), which causes a reduction in molecular weight as well as in mechanical properties. Polyesters show their susceptibility to hydrolysis with dramatic shifts in molecular weight distribution. Apart from access to the additives fraction, hydrolysis also facilitates molecular characterisation of the polymer. In this context, it is noticed that condensation polymers (polyesters, -amides, -ethers, -carbonates, -urethanes) have also been studied much... 

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