Polymerization transesterification

The synthesis of ketone 242 commences with the enantioselective addition of sUyl dienolate 237 to crotonaldehyde 236 catalyzed by Carreira s asymmetric complex [101] to give adduct 238 in 91% ee and 42% yield, albeit with a susceptibihty towards polymerization. Transesterification, sytt-reduction, protection of the corresponding diol, and reduction of the ester afforded aldehyde 239, which was subjected to Horner-Emmons olefination... 

Rea.ctlons, The chemistry of butanediol is deterrnined by the two primary hydroxyls. Esterification is normal. It is advisable to use nonacidic catalysts for esterification and transesterification (122) to avoid cycHc dehydration. When carbonate esters are prepared at high dilutions, some cycHc ester is formed more concentrated solutions give a polymeric product (123). With excess phosgene the usefiil bischloroformate can be prepared (124). 

Transesterification of a lower acrylate ester and a higher alcohol (102,103) can be performed using a variety of catalysts and conditions chosen to provide acceptable reaction rates and to minimize by-product formation and polymerization. 

PET) is produced by esterification of terephthahc acid [100-21 -0] (1) to form bishydroxyethyl terephthalate [959-26-2] (BHET) (2). BHET polymerizes in a transesterification reaction catalyzed by antimony oxide to form PET (3). 

Cychc carbonates are prepared in satisfactory quaUty for anionic polymerization by catalyzed transesterification of neopentyl glycol with diaryl carbonates, followed by tempering and depolymerization. Neopentyl carbonate (5,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one) (6) prepared in this manner has high purity (99.5%) and can be anionically polymerized to polycarbonates with mol wt of 35,000 (39). 

Transesterification. There has been renewed interest in the transesterification process for preparation of polycarbonate because of the desire to transition technology to environmentally friendly processes. The transesterification process utilizes no solvent during polymerization, producing neat polymer direcdy and thus chlorinated solvents may be entirely eliminated. General Electric operates a polycarbonate plant in Chiba, Japan which produces BPA polycarbonate via this melt process. 

An analogue of the transesterification process has also been demonstrated, in which the diacetate of BPA is transesterified with dimethyl carbonate, producing polycarbonate and methyl acetate (33). Removal of the methyl acetate from the equihbrium drives the reaction to completion. Methanol carbonylation, transesterification using phenol to diphenyl carbonate, and polymerization using BPA is commercially viable. The GE plant is the first to produce polycarbonate via a solventiess and phosgene-free process. 

Low molecular weight PET and PBT resins are made by melt processes. For higher molecular weight resins, both melt processes or soHd-state polymerization are used. Although terephthaHc acid can be directly esterified, the most common process involves transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol or 1,4-butanediol in the presence of trace amounts of metal ion catalysts (67,68). 

Commercial aromatic polyester resins or polyarylates are a combination of bisphenol A with isophthahe acid or terephthahe acid (79). The resins are made commercially by solution polymerization or melt transesterification (47). 

Step-growth polymerization processes must be carefully designed in order to avoid reaction conditions that promote deleterious side reactions that may result in the loss of monomer functionality or the volatilization of monomers. For example, initial transesterification between DMT and EG is conducted in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts at temperatures (200°C) that do not result in the premature volatilization of EG (neat EG boiling point 197°C). In addition, polyurethane formation requires the absence of protic impurities such as water to avoid the premature formation of carbamic acids followed by decarboxylation and formation of the reactive amine.50 Thus, reaction conditions must be carefully chosen to avoid undesirable consumption of the functional groups, and 1 1 stoichiometry must be maintained throughout the polymerization process. 

Acetaldehyde is formed during the degradation of PET. Vinyl ester endgroups formed during thermal degradation of PET liberate vinyl alcohol on transesterification with hydroxyethylterephthalate polymeric endgroups (Fig. 10.6). The vinyl alcohol tautomerizes to form acetaldehyde, which can affect the taste of foods in PET food contact applications.1... 

Transamidation, polyamide, 158 Transesterification, 529-530 Transesterification polymerizations, 69-74 Transimidization, 302-303 Transition metal coupling, 10, 467-523 applications for, 472-476 chemistry and analytic techniques for, 483-490... 

A porphinatoaluminum alkoxide is reported to be a superior initiator of c-caprolactone polymerization (44,45). A living polymer with a narrow molecular weight distribution (M /Mjj = 1.08) is ob-tmned under conditions of high conversion, in part because steric hindrance at the catalyst site reduces intra- and intermolecular transesterification. Treatment with alcohols does not quench the catalytic activity although methanol serves as a coinitiator in the presence of the aluminum species. The immortal nature of the system has been demonstrated by preparation of an AB block copolymer with ethylene oxide. The order of reactivity is e-lactone > p-lactone. 

Lipase is an enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of fatty acid esters normally in an aqueous environment in living systems. However, hpases are sometimes stable in organic solvents and can be used as catalyst for esterifications and transesterifications. By utihzing such catalytic specificities of lipase, functional aliphatic polyesters have been synthesized by various polymerization modes. Typical reaction types of hpase-catalyzed polymerization leading to polyesters are summarized in Scheme 1. Lipase-catalyzed polymerizations also produced polycarbonates and polyphosphates. 

Alkyl esters often show low reactivity for lipase-catalyzed transesterifications with alcohols. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain high molecular weight polyesters by lipase-catalyzed polycondensation of dialkyl esters with glycols. The molecular weight greatly improved by polymerization under vacuum to remove the formed alcohols, leading to a shift of equilibrium toward the product polymer the polyester with molecular weight of 2 x 10" was obtained by the lipase MM-catalyzed polymerization of sebacic acid and 1,4-butanediol in diphenyl ether or veratrole under reduced pressure. ... 

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of alkyds (oil-based polyester resins) was demonstrated. PPL-catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides with an excess of 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol mainly produced 2-monoglycerides, followed by thermal polymerization with phthalic anhydride to give the alkyd resins with molecular weight of several thousands. The reaction of the enzymatically obtained alcoholysis product with toluene diisocyanate produced the alkyd-urethane. 

In lipase-catalyzed transesterifications, frequent use of enol esters as acyl agents has been seen [1, 5], since the leaving unsaturated alcohol irreversibly tautomerizes to an aldehyde or a ketone, leading to the desired product in high yields. The polymerization of divinyl adipate and 1,4-butanediol proceeded in the presence of lipase PF at 45 °C [39]. Under similar reaction conditions, adipic acid and diethyl adipate did not afford the polymeric materials, indicating the high polymerizability of bis(enol ester) toward lipase catalyst. 

A range of tetradentate Schiff-base ligands have also been employed to prepare discrete aluminum alkoxides. The most widely studied system is the unsubstituted parent system (256), which initiates the controlled ROP of rac-LA at 70 °C in toluene. The polymerization displays certain features characteristic of a living process (e.g., narrow Mw/M ), but is only well behaved to approximately 60-70% conversion thereafter transesterification causes the polydispersity to broaden.788 MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy has been used to show that even at low conversions the polymer chains contain both even and odd numbers of lactic acid repeat units, implying that transesterification occurs in parallel with polymerization in this system.789... 

Early studies using calcium oxide, carbonate, and carboxylates reported low activities for the polymerization of LA, even in bulk at 120-180 °C.827,828 PolyGA and copolymers of GA with CL and L-LA have been prepared using Ca(acac)2, but again high temperatures (150-200 °C) are required.829 Under these conditions transesterification occurs, although to a lesser extent than in analogous Sn(Oct)2-initiated polymerizations. 

Improved control was observed, however, upon addition of benzyl alcohol to the dinuclear complexes.887 X-ray crystallography revealed that whereas (296) simply binds the alcohol, (297) reacts to form a trinuclear species bearing four terminal alkoxides. The resultant cluster, (298), polymerizes rac-LA in a relatively controlled manner (Mw/Mn=1.15) up to 70% conversion thereafter GPC traces become bimodal as transesterification becomes increasingly prevalent. NMR spectroscopy demonstrates that the PLA bears BnO end-groups and the number of active sites was determined to be 2.5 0.2. When CL is initiated by (298) only 1.5 alkoxides are active and kinetic analysis suggests that the propagation mechanisms for the two monomers are different, the rate law being first order in LA, but zero order in CL. 

The guanidinate complex (310) polymerizes LA at RT.893 Mn values increase with M0/Io ratios, but control is only moderate, with Mw/Mn typically >1.5. Transesterification occurs to a large extent as shown by NMR studies on the isolated PLA. Potentially tridentate 2,5-bis(N-arylimino-methyl)pyrroles have been explored as ancillary ligands for yttrium.894 Their reactions with... 

Titanatranes such as (319) and (320) polymerize 300 equivalents of L-LA or rac-LA to 70-100% conversion within 24h at 130 °C.922 H NMR studies show that the polymer bears the bulky di-i.vo-propylphenolate end-group, indicating that initiation occurs in a controlled manner. However, molecular weight distributions are relatively broad (1.4-2.0), due in part to transesterification. 

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