Premium
Preparation of isotacticity‐rich poly( tert ‐butyl vinyl ether) by the cationic polymerization of tert ‐butyl vinyl ether with dimethyl[ rac ‐ethylenebis(indenyl)]zirconium and tri(pentafluorophenyl)borane
Author(s) -
Kwon Oh Wook,
Noh Seok Kyun,
Lyoo Won Seok
Publication year - 2007
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/app.27016
Subject(s) - polymerization , cationic polymerization , polymer chemistry , molar mass distribution , vinyl ether , living cationic polymerization , dispersity , catalysis , materials science , chain transfer , chemistry , borane , solvent , radical polymerization , monomer , organic chemistry , polymer
tert ‐Butyl vinyl ether (tBVE) was polymerized with the catalyst dimethyl[ rac ‐ethylenebis(indenyl)] zirconium (ansa‐zirconocene) with tri(pentafluorophenyl) borane [B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] as a cocatalyst. The effects of various polymerization conditions, such as the polymerization time, type of polymerization solvent, polymerization temperature, and catalyst concentration, on the conversion of tBVE into poly(tBVE), its molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, and its stereoregularity were investigated. The maximum conversion of tBVE into poly(tBVE) was over 90% at a polymerization temperature of −30°C with an ansa‐zirconocene and B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 concentration of 3.0 × 10 −7 mol/mol of tBVE, respectively. The number‐average molecular weights of poly(tBVE) ranged from approximately 14,000 to 20,000, with a lower polydispersity index (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight) ranging from 1.48 to 1.77, at all polymerization temperatures. The number‐average molecular weight of poly(tBVE) increased with decreases in the polymerization temperature and catalyst concentration. The mm triad sequence fraction of poly(tBVE) polymerized with ansa‐zirconocene/B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 at −30°C was much higher than that of poly(tBVE) polymerized with the B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 catalyst at −30°C, and this indicated that the ansa‐zirconocene/B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 catalyst system affected the isospecific polymerization of tBVE. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008