Preparation cross-linkers

Poly(acrylic acid) and Poly(methacrylic acid). Poly(acryHc acid) (8) (PAA) may be prepared by polymerization of the monomer with conventional free-radical initiators using the monomer either undiluted (36) (with cross-linker for superadsorber appHcations) or in aqueous solution. Photochemical polymerization (sensitized by benzoin) of methyl acrylate in ethanol solution at —78° C provides a syndiotactic form (37) that can be hydrolyzed to syndiotactic PAA. From academic studies, alkaline hydrolysis of the methyl ester requires a lower time than acid hydrolysis of the polymeric ester, and can lead to oxidative degradation of the polymer (38). Po1y(meth acrylic acid) (PMAA) (9) is prepared only by the direct polymerization of the acid monomer it is not readily obtained by the hydrolysis of methyl methacrylate. 

Small amounts of specially functionalized monomers are often copolymerized with acryUc monomers in order to modify or improve the properties of the polymer. These functional monomers can bring about improvements either directiy or by providing sites for further reaction with metal ions, cross-linkers, or other compounds and resins. Table 9 Hsts some of the more common functional monomers used in the preparation of acryUc copolymers. 

The organic and aqueous phases are prepared in separate tanks before transferring to the reaction ketde. In the manufacture of a styrenic copolymer, predeterrnined amounts of styrene (1) and divinylbenzene (2) are mixed together in the organic phase tank. Styrene is the principal constituent, and is usually about 90—95 wt % of the formulation. The other 5—10% is DVB. It is required to link chains of linear polystyrene together as polymerization proceeds. DVB is referred to as a cross-linker. Without it, functionalized polystyrene would be much too soluble to perform as an ion-exchange resin. Ethylene—methacrylate [97-90-5] and to a lesser degree trivinylbenzene [1322-23-2] are occasionally used as substitutes for DVB. 

PVA can be prepared by chemical or physical cross-linking general methods for chemical cross-linking are the use of chemical cross-linkers or the use of electron beams or y-... 

Three main types of polymer-based monoliths are polymethacrylate-based monoliths where methacrylate forms the major component of the monomers for polymerization, polyacrylamide-based monoliths where cross-linked polyacrylamide is synthesized directly within the capillary, and polystyrene-based monoliths that are usually prepared from styrene and 4-(chloromethyl) styrene as monomers and divinylbenzene (DVB) as the cross-linker. 

Typically lightly cross-linked gel-type resins are prepared in the absence of any solvent or porogen. However it is possible to include relatively large volumes of thermodynamically compatible solvent in the polymerization without inducing any phase separation at the low levels of cross-linker used in gel-type resin synthesis. 

This was conhrmed in 1967 by Kubin et al., who were the first to accomplish polymerization directly in a glass colnmn [13], The resulting swollen poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) gel, which was prepared in the presence of 1% cross-linker, was strongly compressed after pressnre application and consequently exhibited exceedingly low permeability (4.5mL/h for a 25 X 220 mm colnmn) and poor efficiency. 

Free radical copolymerization of a monovinyl compound and a divinyl cross-linker is by far the most commonly employed mode of polymerization for the preparation of organic monoliths. 

Methacrylate monoliths have been fabricated by free radical polymerization of a number of different methacrylate monomers and cross-linkers [107,141-163], whose combination allowed the creation of monolithic columns with different chemical properties (RP [149-154], HIC [158], and HILIC [163]) and functionalities (lEX [141-153,161,162], IMAC [143], and bioreactors [159,160]). Unlike the fabrication of styrene monoliths, the copolymerization of methacrylate building blocks can be accomplished by thermal [141-148], photochemical [149-151,155,156], as well as chemical [154] initiation. In addition to HPLC, monolithic methacrylate supports have been subjected to numerous CEC applications [146-148,151]. Acrylate monoliths have been prepared by free radical polymerization of various acrylate monomers and cross-linkers [164-172]. Comparable to monolithic methacrylate supports, chemical [170], photochemical [164,169], as well as thermal [165-168,171,172] initiation techniques have been employed for fabrication. The application of acrylate polymer columns, however, is more focused on CEC than HPLC. 

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