Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published September 1980 | public
Journal Article

Copolymerization of Ethyl Glycidate with Cyclic Ethers by Organometallic Initiators

Abstract

Ethyl glycidate (EG) was copolymerized with propylene oxide (PO), 1-butene oxide (BO), and oxetane by organoaluminum initiators to produce high molecular weight polyethers with pendant ester groups. The ternary initiator system AlEt_3/H20/AcAc (1/0.3/0.5) gave the best results with PO and BO, yielding polymers of η_(inh) 0.6-4.3 dL/g containing up to 4 mol % of EG units. EG was relatively unreactive in these copolymerizations; the concentration of EG in the copolymer was always significantly less than that in the feed, and increased EG feed concentrations depressed both the rate of polymerization and the product molecular weight. Oxetane copolymers containing ca. 1 mol % of EG units were obtained with η_(inh) 0.7-1.0 dL/g, along with oligomeric products, using a similar initiator system. Conversion of these polyethers into novel ionomers was demonstrated: treatment of the ester with NaOH gave the polymeric sodium salt, which was further converted to the free acid by reaction with glacial acetic acid in dioxane.

Additional Information

© 1980 American Chemical Society. Received February 20, 1980. This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF INT 035911) and by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 7R030).

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023