Tacticity atactic chain

A particular state of tacticity is a particular configuration of the molecule and cannot be changed without breaking and reforming bonds and, at ordinary temperatures, there is not enough thermal energy for this to happen. Rotations around bonds produce only different conformations. A vinyl polymer is therefore unlikely to be appreciably crystalline unless it is substantially either isotactic or syndiotactic the atactic chain cannot get into a state in which it has translational symmetry. 

For instance, the Tg of PP depends strongly on its tacticity. Atactic PP has a Tg—19 C and is used in bitumen and hot-melt adhesive formulations, while for isotactic PP, it is approximately -8°C. The latter is a tough, semicrystalline plastic used in packaging films. The Tg of syndiotactic form of PP can be as high as ISO C Sophisticated catalyst systems even aUow synthesis of polymers that have ordered blocks of atactic materials and isotactic materials on the polymer chains. 

Figure 44 Schematic depictions of tacticity (a) isotactic (b) syndiotactic (c) atactic (d) primarily isotactic chain, with one stereo-alteration (e) primarily atactic chain.

Abe et ah have studied the conformational characteristics of a series of poly[oxy(-l-alkylethylenes)]. In the first paper a comparison of the statistical weights of various conformations in poly(propylene oxide), deduced from the solution properties of isotactic and atactic chains, were compared with conformational weights derived from a potential-energy surface, and an anomeric effect identified with a discrepancy between the two. Flexible side-chains influence the main chain in a manner which is expressible in the statistical weight matrices. The dimensions of these chains are strongly influenced by their tacticity. Polymer chains containing both sulphur and oxygen heteroatoms have received the attention of... 

Polymers of different tacticity have quite different properties, especially in the solid state. One of the requirements for polymer crystallinity is a high degree of microstructural regularity to enable the chains to pack in an orderly manner. Thus atactic polypropylene is a soft, tacky substance, whereas both isotactic and syndiotactic polypropylenes are highly crystalline. 

PIB exists either as a low mw (about 12,000) viscous or atactic liq or as a cryst matl of about 1.00,000 mw. In this latter form the iso tactic (chain) type configuration predominates over the atactic and amorph forms (Ref 8). Since the isotactic form is the form designated by mil spec (Ref 2), its parameters are presented below ... 

The term tactidty refers to the configuration of polymer chains when their constituent monomer residues contain a steric center. Figure 1.8 illustrates the three principal classes of tacticity as exemplified by polypropylene. In isotactic polypropylene, the methyl groups are all positioned on the same side of the chain, as shown in Fig. 1.8 a). In syndiotactic polypropylene, the methyl groups alternate from one side to the other, as shown in Fig. 1.8 b). Random placement of the methyl groups results in atactic polypropylene, which is shown in Fig. 1.8 c). We can readily observe the effects of tacticity on the properties of polypropylene isotactic polypropylene is hard and stiff at room temperature, syndiotactic polypropylene is soft and flexible, and atactic polypropylene is soft and rubbery. 

The algorithm also incorporates tacticity control for vinyl chains. The random number generator is used to choose between d- and l-versions of the transformation matrix. A single parameter controls the relative probability of d- and l-residues. The poly(p-fluorostyrene) results presented here are for atactic (stereochemically irregular) chains. 

PP synthesized using TiCl4/Et3Al is mostly isotactic, but two minor fractions are also produced. One is a soluble, atactic PP, whilst the other fraction is a partially crystalline, elastomeric stereoblock of iso- and a-tactic PP sequences.98 Elastomeric PP may also be prepared using the ansa-titanoccnc complex, (26), (although this catalyst does undergo rapid deactivation).99 Stereoblock formation was attributed to an equilibrium mixture of slowly interconverting isospecific and aspecific catalyst sites. Other stereoblock PP materials have been prepared via chain transfer between two catalysts of different stereoselectivities.101,102... 

Based on Chien s research results, Collins et al. modified the basic structure of the catalysts and also achieved elastic material [8,18,19]. In both cases the elastic properties of the polymers are justified in a block structure with isotactic and atactic sequences. In 1999 Rieger et al. presented a couple of asymmetric, highly active metallocene catalysts, e.g., the dual-side catalyst rac-[l-(9-r 5-fluorenyl)-2-(5,6-cyclo-penta-2-methyl-l-q5-indenyl)ethane]zirconium dichloride (Fig. 3). These catalysts allowed building of isolated stereoerrors in the polymer chain to control the tacticity and therefore the material properties of the polymers [9],... 

Of these three PP isomers (called that because they all have the same formula, just different stereoconfigurations), isotactic makes the best plastic. Atactic polypropylene is soft, elastic, and rubbery but not as good as rubber, natural, or synthetic. It is usually separated from the isotactic propylene and discarded as waste, which adds considerable cost to the remaining isotactic. The iso tactic form has a high degree of crystallinity with the chains packed... 

In the case of homopolymers, the tacticity of the chains directly influences the material properties. Atactic PHB has an oily consistency and is of less use for plastic industry, whereas completely isotactic PHB shows comparably interesting... 

For disubstituted ethylenes, the presence and type of tacticity depends on the positions of substitution and the identity of the substituents. In the polymerization of a 1,1-disubstituted ethylene, CH2=CRR, stereoisomerism does not exist if the R and R groups are the same (e.g., isobutylene and vinylidene chloride). When R and R are different (e.g., —CH3 and —COOCH3 in methyl methacrylate), stereoisomerism occurs exactly as in the case of a monosubstituted ethylene. The methyl groups can be located all above or all below the plane of the polymer chain (isotactic), alternately above and below (syndiotactic), or randomly (atactic). The presence of the second substituent has no effect on the situation since steric placement of the first substituent automatically fixes that of the second. The second substituent is isotactic if the first is isotactic, syndiotactic if the first substituent is syndiotactic, and atactic if the first is atactic. 

The RIS model, coupled with the Flory matrix method, is applied to the calculation of the unperturbed mean-square end-to-end distance in polylcyclohexene sulphone) as a function of several parameters. The calculations are performed for atactic, isotactic and syndiotactic chains the tacticity arises from the two possible ways, D and L, in which the rings can be attached to the main chain, assuming that the C—C bonds are all in the trans conformation, as indicated by dielectric measurements. 

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