Polymerization of ether

Trivalent carbenium ions play a key role, not only in the acid-catalyzed polymerization of alkenes [Eq. (5.348)] but also in the polycondensation of arenes (7r-bonded monomers) as well as in the cationic polymerization of ethers, sulfides, and nitrogen compounds (nonbonded electron-pair donor monomers). On the other hand, penta-coordinated carbonium ions play the key role in the electrophilic reactions of cr-bonds (single bonds), including the oligocondensation of alkanes and alkenes (Section 5.1.5). 

The polymerization of ether and thioether monomers was also studied, and it was found that the rate of polymerization was a great deal slower with the functionalized monomers. The number of methylene units between the olefin and the heteroatom greatly affected the rates observed, giving credence to the chelation effect shown in Fig. 6.1. In addition, catalyst 2 polymerizes 1,5-hexadiene, whereas catalyst 6 mainly cyclizes the metathesis dimer to cyclo-l,5-octadiene. At this point there is no clear explanation for this result, and, furthermore, the reason that the COD generated did not undergo ROMP in these reactions is unclear. The data from these experiments clearly shows that Lewis basic functionality retards the rate of metathesis with complex 6 more than with complex 2, although 6 is clearly the more functional group-tolerant complex overall [35]. 

The persubstituted derivatives having two, or three, different substituents also serve mainly for identification purposes. Suitable selection of conditions needed for cleavage of the 1,6-anhydride bond permits transformation of most of the persubstituted 1,6-anhydrohexo-pyranoses into 2,3,4-tri-O-substituted derivatives of aldohexoses (see Sect. IV,1). Ring-opening polymerization of ethers and esters has been discussed in the previous Section. 

The recovery of the deblocked polysaccharide may be most conveniently achieved by sodium in liquid ammonia. Usually, deblocking is accompanied by chain scission, but this is negligible under proper conditions. For example, debenzylation of a polymer with DPn close to 900, which requires the removing of 2700 benzyl ether functions, causes a three- to four-fold decrease in DPn 20,21 Sterically pure linear polysaccharides with a number average degree of polymerization of 150-300 can be prepared by cationic polymerization of ether derivatives of 1,6-anhydro sugars followed by deblocking. 

Many perfluoroaUphatic ethers and tertiary amines have been prepared by electrochemical fluorination (1 6), direct fluorination using elemental fluorine (7—9), or, in a few cases, by fluorination using cobalt trifluoride (10). Examples of lower molecular weight materials are shown in Table 1. In addition to these, there are three commercial classes of perfluoropolyethers prepared by anionic polymerization of hexafluoropropene oxide [428-59-1] (11,12), photooxidation of hexafluoropropene [116-15-4] or tetrafluoroethene [116-14-3] (13,14), or by anionic ring-opening polymeriza tion of tetrafluorooxetane [765-63-9] followed by direct fluorination (15). 

Technora. In 1985, Teijin Ltd. introduced Technora fiber, previously known as HM-50, into the high performance fiber market. Technora is based on the 1 1 copolyterephthalamide of 3,4 -diaminodiphenyl ether and/ -phenylenediamine (8). Technora is a whoUy aromatic copolyamide of PPT, modified with a crankshaft-shaped comonomer, which results in the formation of isotropic solutions that then become anisotropic during the shear alignment during spinning. The polymer is synthesized by the low temperature polymerization of/ -phenylenediamine, 3,4 -diaminophenyl ether, and terephthaloyl chloride in an amide solvent containing a small amount of an alkaU salt. Calcium chloride or lithium chloride is used as the alkaU salt. The solvents used are hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA), A/-methyl-2-pyrrohdinone (NMP), and dimethyl acetamide (DMAc). The stmcture of Technora is as follows ... 

Boron tritiuoride etherate— -hexanol complexes have successfully been used to polymerize P-pinene, as well as dipentene, to yield resins with softening points >70° C (82). Limonene or dipentene sulfate has been polymerized with aluminum chloride in a mixed toluene/high boiling aUphatic naphtha to give high yields of light colored resins (96). For the polymerization of dipentene or limonene, 4—8 wt % of AlCl has been used. Polymerization of P-pinene typically requires lower levels of catalyst relative to limonene or dipentene. 

Anionic polymerization of vinyl monomers can be effected with a variety of organometaUic compounds alkyllithium compounds are the most useful class (1,33—35). A variety of simple alkyllithium compounds are available commercially. Most simple alkyllithium compounds are soluble in hydrocarbon solvents such as hexane and cyclohexane and they can be prepared by reaction of the corresponding alkyl chlorides with lithium metal. Methyllithium [917-54-4] and phenyllithium [591-51-5] are available in diethyl ether and cyclohexane—ether solutions, respectively, because they are not soluble in hydrocarbon solvents vinyllithium [917-57-7] and allyllithium [3052-45-7] are also insoluble in hydrocarbon solutions and can only be prepared in ether solutions (38,39). Hydrocarbon-soluble alkyllithium initiators are used directiy to initiate polymerization of styrene and diene monomers quantitatively one unique aspect of hthium-based initiators in hydrocarbon solution is that elastomeric polydienes with high 1,4-microstmcture are obtained (1,24,33—37). Certain alkyllithium compounds can be purified by recrystallization (ethyllithium), sublimation (ethyllithium, /-butyUithium [594-19-4] isopropyllithium [2417-93-8] or distillation (j -butyUithium) (40,41). Unfortunately, / -butyUithium is noncrystaUine and too high boiling to be purified by distiUation (38). Since methyllithium and phenyllithium are crystalline soUds which are insoluble in hydrocarbon solution, they can be precipitated into these solutions and then redissolved in appropriate polar solvents (42,43). OrganometaUic compounds of other alkaU metals are insoluble in hydrocarbon solution and possess negligible vapor pressures as expected for salt-like compounds. 

Cyclic ether and acetal polymerizations are also important commercially. Polymerization of tetrahydrofuran is used to produce polyether diol, and polyoxymethylene, an excellent engineering plastic, is obtained by the ring-opening polymerization of trioxane with a small amount of cycHc ether or acetal comonomer to prevent depolymerization (see Acetal resins Polyethers, tetrahydrofuran). 

Dicyclopentadiene is also polymerized with tungsten-based catalysts. Because the polymerization reaction produces heavily cross-Unked resins, the polymers are manufactured in a reaction injection mol ding (RIM) process, in which all catalyst components and resin modifiers are slurried in two batches of the monomer. The first batch contains the catalyst (a mixture of WCl and WOCl, nonylphenol, acetylacetone, additives, and fillers the second batch contains the co-catalyst (a combination of an alkyl aluminum compound and a Lewis base such as ether), antioxidants, and elastomeric fillers (qv) for better moldabihty (50). Mixing two Uquids in a mold results in a rapid polymerization reaction. Its rate is controlled by the ratio between the co-catalyst and the Lewis base. Depending on the catalyst composition, solidification time of the reaction mixture can vary from two seconds to an hour. Similar catalyst systems are used for polymerization of norbomene and for norbomene copolymerization with ethyhdenenorbomene. 

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. 

Oxidative Reactions. The majority of pesticides, or pesticide products, are susceptible to some form of attack by oxidative enzymes. For more persistent pesticides, oxidation is frequently the primary mode of metaboHsm, although there are important exceptions, eg, DDT. For less persistent pesticides, oxidation may play a relatively minor role, or be the first reaction ia a metaboHc pathway. Oxidation generally results ia degradation of the parent molecule. However, attack by certain oxidative enzymes (phenol oxidases) can result ia the condensation or polymerization of the parent molecules this phenomenon is referred to as oxidative coupling (16). Examples of some important oxidative reactions are ether cleavage, alkyl-hydroxylation, aryl-hydroxylation, AJ-dealkylation, and sulfoxidation. 

Polybutester (10) is a polyether—ester produced by the condensation polymerization of dimethyl terephthalate, polytetramethylene ether glycol [25190-06-17, and 1,4-butanediol [110-63-4]. Polybutester sutures are available in clear, ie, undyed, or blue, ie, melt-pigmented with (phthalocyaninato(2-)) copper. Monofilament polybutester is sold under the trade name Novafil. 

The observation in 1949 (4) that isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) can be polymerized with stereoregularity ushered in the stereochemical study of polymers, eventually leading to the development of stereoregular polypropylene. In fact, vinyl ethers were key monomers in the early polymer Hterature. Eor example, ethyl vinyl ether (EVE) was first polymerized in the presence of iodine in 1878 and the overall polymerization was systematically studied during the 1920s (5). There has been much academic interest in living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers and in the unusual compatibiUty of poly(MVE) with polystyrene. 

Complexation of the initiator and/or modification with cocatalysts or activators affords greater polymerization activity (11). Many of the patented processes for commercially available polymers such as poly(MVE) employ BE etherate (12), although vinyl ethers can be polymerized with a variety of acidic compounds, even those unable to initiate other cationic polymerizations of less reactive monomers such as isobutene. Examples are protonic acids (13), Ziegler-Natta catalysts (14), and actinic radiation (15,16). 

Alkali Metal Catalysts. The polymerization of isoprene with sodium metal was reported in 1911 (49,50). In hydrocarbon solvent or bulk, the polymerization of isoprene with alkaU metals occurs heterogeneously, whereas in highly polar solvents the polymerization is homogeneous (51—53). Of the alkah metals, only lithium in bulk or hydrocarbon solvent gives over 90% cis-1,4 microstmcture. Sodium or potassium metals in / -heptane give no cis-1,4 microstmcture, and 48—58 mol % /ram-1,4, 35—42% 3,4, and 7—10% 1,2 microstmcture (46). Alkali metals in benzene or tetrahydrofuran with crown ethers form solutions that readily polymerize isoprene however, the 1,4 content of the polyisoprene is low (54). For example, the polyisoprene formed with sodium metal and dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 (crown ether) in benzene at 10°C contains 32% 1,4-, 44% 3,4-, and 24% 1,2-isoprene units (54). 

Commercially, anionic polymerization is limited to three monomers styrene, butadiene, and isoprene [78-79-5], therefore only two useful A—B—A block copolymers, S—B—S and S—I—S, can be produced direcdy. In both cases, the elastomer segments contain double bonds which are reactive and limit the stabhity of the product. To improve stabhity, the polybutadiene mid-segment can be polymerized as a random mixture of two stmctural forms, the 1,4 and 1,2 isomers, by addition of an inert polar material to the polymerization solvent ethers and amines have been suggested for this purpose (46). Upon hydrogenation, these isomers give a copolymer of ethylene and butylene. 

Aluminum oxide has been the most widely used catalyst (151). At 320°C and 1.01—1.42 MPa, 50—66% conversion to alcohol based on the ether was obtained. Ethanol produced by the direct hydration of ether generally has a foul odor owing to the presence of polymeric hydrocarbon material, which can be removed by washing the aqueous alcohol with ether (152). 

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. 

The most important reaction with Lewis acids such as boron trifluoride etherate is polymerization (Scheme 30) (72MI50601). Other Lewis acids have been used SnCL, Bu 2A1C1, Bu sAl, Et2Zn, SO3, PFs, TiCU, AICI3, Pd(II) and Pt(II) salts. Trialkylaluminum, dialkylzinc and other alkyl metal initiators may partially hydrolyze to catalyze the polymerization by an anionic mechanism rather than the cationic one illustrated in Scheme 30. Cyclic dimers and trimers are often products of cationic polymerization reactions, and desulfurization of the monomer may occur. Polymerization of optically active thiiranes yields optically active polymers (75MI50600). 

Treatment of thiiranes with lithium aluminum hydride gives a thiolate ion formed by attack of hydride ion on the least hindered carbon atoms (76RCR25), The mechanism is 5n2, inversion occurring at the site of attack. Polymerization initiated by the thiolate ion is a side reaction and may even be the predominant reaction, e.g. with 2-phenoxymethylthiirane. Use of THF instead of ether as solvent is said to favor polymerization. Tetrahydroborates do not reduce the thiirane ring under mild conditions and can be used to reduce other functional groups in the presence of the episulfide. Sodium in ammonia reduces norbornene episulfide to the exo thiol. 

Several mechanisms for the polymerization of vinyl ether and epoxies have been suggested [20,22,23,25,27,28,33-35]. On irradiation with gamma rays or electrons, pure epoxies polymerize via a cationic mechanism [35]. However, this cationic polymerization is inhibited by just traces of moisture, as shown below for cyclohexene oxide in reaction 5. 

Lapin [33] also suggests the following cationic mechanism for the polymerization of vinyl ethers... 

Another important ether is vinyl ether, a colorless liquid with the characteristic ether odor. Its molecular formula is CjHjOCjHj. Vinyl ether has a flash point of -22°F and an ignition temperature of b80°F. It is highly toxic by inhalation and is used in medicine and in the polymerization of certain plastics. 

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