Abstract
Abstract
An in-depth investigation of the oxyanionic ring-opening copolymerization of propylene oxide (PO) and allyl glydicyl ether (AGE) from benzyl alcohol (BnOH) activated with potassium acetate (KOAc) complexed by 18-crown-6 ether (18C6) is described. We demonstrate that the KOAc/18C6 complex is an efficient and benign catalytic system to promote copolymerization of both oxirane monomers, leading well-defined polyethers with varied co-monomer content and low dispersity values (ƉM < 1.20). Kinetic analysis confirmed the controlled nature of the (co)polymerization process, and the determination of reactivity ratios by 1H NMR spectroscopy revealed a quasi-alternating copolymerization profile, according to the Fineman-Ross method. These results highlight the great potential of 18C6/KOAc-mediated copolymerization process for the design of highly sought quasi-alternating copolymer platforms, not accessible with the common polymerization systems.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
Reference51 articles.
1. Aliphatic Polyethers: Classical Polymers for the 21st Century;Klein R;Macromol. Rapid Commun.,2015
2. Polymerization of Ethylene Oxide, Propylene Oxide, and Other Alkylene Oxides: Synthesis, Novel Polymer Architectures, and Bioconjugation;Herzberger J;Chem. Rev.,2016
3. The Production of Propene Oxide: Catalytic Processes and Recent Developments;Nijhuis TA;Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.,2006
4. Price, C. C. Polyethers. Acc. Chem. Res. 7, 294–301 (1974).
5. Living Ring-Opening Polymerizations of Heterocyclic Monomers;Penczek S;Prog. Polym. Sci.,2007