Carbocationic Copolymerization of Isobutylene and 2,4-Dimethyl-1,3-Pentadiene
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-28-2018
School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Abstract
The copolymerization behavior of isobutylene (IB) and 2,4-dimethyl-1,3-pentadiene (DMPD) was studied with the intent of producing random copolymers of these two monomers. Copolymerizations were conducted between −76 °C and −40 °C using either TiCl4 or ethylaluminum dichloride (EADC) catalysis in solvent mixtures ranging from pure methyl chloride to a 60/40 mixture of hexane and methyl chloride. Contrary to expectations based on prior literature reports, we observed overwhelmingly greater reactivity of DMPD relative to IB. NMR analysis gave evidence that the products of attempted copolymerizations were poly(DMPD-b-IB) block copolymers under all conditions employed, and monomer conversion data from FTIR revealed that a portion of the DMPD was lost to side products, likely cyclic and/or straight-chain DMPD oligomers. Furthermore, we observed a minor fraction of 1,2-additions of DMPD, which is typically not observed under these conditions for isoprene. Homopolymers of DMPD were synthesized to aid NMR structural assignments in the copolymer. Chain-transfer dominated polymerizations of DMPD occurred under the same conditions that produce living polymerization of isobutylene, further suggesting the higher relative reactivity of DMPD and the unsuitability of this comonomer pair toward the synthesis of random copolymers. The fraction of 1,2 additions in DMPD homopolymers averaged about 0.13.
Publication Title
Macromolecules
Volume
51
Issue
16
First Page
6430
Last Page
6439
Recommended Citation
Campbell, C.,
Storey, R. F.
(2018). Carbocationic Copolymerization of Isobutylene and 2,4-Dimethyl-1,3-Pentadiene. Macromolecules, 51(16), 6430-6439.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15450