Polymers from Alkenes Vinylic Monomers

II. COMMERCIAL POLYMERS FROM ALKENES (VINYLIC MONOMERS)... 

Synthetic polymers from alkene monomers are also a major target for epoxidizers. Polyisoprenes,26 polybutenes and polybutadienes have all been epoxidized by general in situ peracid methods. In the case of liquid polybutadienes, a wide range of types is available. Products with varying contents of 1,4-cis, 1,4-trans, and 1,2-vinyl alkene groups are available (Figure 3.6). 

Table 7.1 shows some commercially important alkene polymers, their uses, and the vinyl monomers from which they are made. 

Isomeric polymers can also be obtained from a single monomer if there is more than one polymerization route. The head-to-head placement that can occur in the polymerization of a vinyl monomer is isomeric with the normal head-to-tail placement (see structures III and IV in Sec. 3-2a). Isomerization during carbocation polymerization is another instance whereby isomeric structures can be formed (Sec. 5-2b). Monomers with two polymerizable groups can yield isomeric polymers if one or the other of the two alternate polymerization routes is favored. Examples of this type of isomerism are the 1,2- and 1,4-polymers from 1,3-dienes (Secs. 3-14f and 8-10), the separate polymerizations of the alkene and carbonyl double bonds in ketene and acrolein (Sec. 5-7a), and the synthesis of linear or cyclized polymers from non-conjugated dienes (Sec. 6-6b). The different examples of constitutional isomerism are important to note from the practical viewpoint, since the isomeric polymers usually differ considerably in their properties. 

Many simple alkenes called vinyl monomers undergo polymer-forming (polymerization) reactions Ethylene yields polyethylene, propylene (propene) yields polypropylene, styrene yields polystyrene, and so forth. The polymer molecules that result may have anywhere from a few hundred to many thousand monomer units incorporated into a long chain. Some commercially important polymers are listed in Table 23.3. 

The most important industrial applications of radical reaction to date are used for the manufacture of polymers. Around 108 tonnes (or 75%) of all polymers are prepared using radical processes. These are chain reactions in which an initial radical adds to the double bond of an alkene monomer and the resulting radical adds to another alkene monomer and so on. This addition polymerisation is used to make a number of important polymers, including poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polystyrene, polyethylene and poly(methyl methacrylate). Copolymers can also be easily prepared starting from a mixture of two or more monomers. These polymers have found widespread use as they possess a range of chemical and mechanical properties (such as strength and toughness). 

What is fhe implication of our work wifh respect to the metal-catalyzed polymerization of polar vinyl monomers FirsL for fhe late metal compounds, fhe polar vinyl monomers can clearly outcompete efhene and simple 1-alkenes wifh respect to insertion. However, fhe ground-state destabilization of the alkene complex that favors the migratory insertion of fhe polar vinyl monomers is a two-edged sword because it biases the alkene coordination towards ethene and l-alkenes. Indeed, we have observed fhe near quantitative displacement of vinyl bromide by propene to form 7 from 3 (Scheme 9.1). Thus, the extent of incorporation of fhe polar vinyl monomer in fhe polymer will depend on the opposing trends in alkene coordination and migratory insertion. The above discussion does not take into account the problem of functional group coordination for acrylates or halide abstraction for vinyl hahdes. 

In a few instances solid polymers have been made by electric discharge from vinyl monomers which are commonly polymerized by other means. Thus, styrene (8,13,16), vinyl acetate (15), methyl methacrylate (8), and numerous alkenes have been polymerized by exposure to discharge. The products usually were compared with polymers made from the same monomers by conventional catalysis and the close similarity of infrared spectra was used as evidence for similar molecular structure. 

The mechanism of RAFT polymerization relies on activation of the monomer double bond to enable efficient fragmentation from the intermediate radical, which in turn provides control over the molecular weight of the resulting polymer. It follows that vinyl monomers, for which the double bond is not activated, are still challenging to polymerize efficiently via RAFT. Although attempts have been made to control the polymerization of 1-alkenes [16] and allyl butyl ethers [17], as yet only copolymerization with active monomers (acrylates and acrylamides) has led to a... 

Vinyl monomers, such as styrene, and alkenes with a side group, such as propylene, can polymerize in several molecular forms whose crystallization behaviors are quite different from each other. If the side groups are all on one side of the backbone, the structure is called isotactic, and if they are on alternating sides, it is called syndiotactic. If they are distributed in a random fashion, the polymer is said to be atactic. The isotactic and syndiotactic forms are crystallizable, often in a helical structure, while the atactic form does not crystallize and solidifies only at its glass transition temperature. Figure 2.3 illustrates the tacticities mentioned above for the case of polypropylene. It has been found that polypropylene tacticity can also have an important effect on chain dimensions [10] and on the rheological behaviour of the melt [11]. 

This reaction may account in part for the oligomers obtained in the polymerization of pro-pene, 1-butene, and other 1-alkenes where the propagation reaction is not highly favorable (due to the low stability of the propagating carbocation). Unreactive 1-alkenes and 2-alkenes have been used to control polymer molecular weight in cationic polymerization of reactive monomers, presumably by hydride transfer to the unreactive monomer. The importance of hydride ion transfer from monomer is not established for the more reactive monomers. For example, hydride transfer by monomer is less likely a mode of chain termination compared to proton transfer to monomer for isobutylene polymerization since the tertiary carbocation formed by proton transfer is more stable than the allyl carbocation formed by hydride transfer. Similar considerations apply to the polymerizations of other reactive monomers. Hydride transfer is not a possibility for those monomers without easily transferable hydrogens, such as A-vinylcarbazole, styrene, vinyl ethers, and coumarone. 

The polymers produced through emulsion free radical polymerization are synthesized from modified alkenes (eg, styrene, methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, vinyl acetate) and are characterized by the presence of C—C bonds that bind the monomers used. As a result, the obtained materials can be biocompatible [as for poly(methyl methacrylate)], but they are not biodegradable [9]. 

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