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Two‐component initiator systems for the ring‐opening polymerization of oligomeric cyclic bisphenol‐A carbonates: The in situ cleavage of disulfides by triarlyphosphines
Author(s) -
Krabbenhoft Herman O.,
Brunelle Daniel J.,
Pearce Eric J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19971219)66:12<2251::aid-app6>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - polymerization , polymer chemistry , prepolymer , chemistry , triphenylphosphine , bisphenol a , bisphenol , polymer , oligomer , organic chemistry , epoxy , polyurethane , catalysis
A two‐component initiator system based on the in situ cleavage of phenyl disulfide by a triarylphosphine has been developed for the ring‐opening polymerization of cyclic bisphenol‐A (BPA) carbonate oligomers. This development has potential use in composite applications such that the prepolymer can suitably wet the composite material before being converted to high‐molecular‐weight polymer. The initiator precursors (phenyl disulfide and triphenylphosphine) do not independently initiate significant ring‐opening polymerization of the oligomeric cyclic BPA carbonate mixture. A mixture of cyclic BPA carbonate oligomers and one of the initiator components (phenyl disulfide), combined and heated at 300°C with a mixture of the cyclics and the other initiator component (triphenylphosphine), does produce a high‐molecular‐weight polymer ( M w = ∼ 70,000). The polymerization‐initiating species is thought to be thiophenyltriphenylphosphonium thiophenoxide. The effects of concentration of the initiator components, reaction temperature, time, and so forth on polymerization were studied; in general, the degree of polymerization ranged from about 65 to 75%. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 66: 2251–2255, 1997