Synthesis and characterization of polylimonene: Polymer of an optically active terpene

Radical polymerization of limonene (limonene) using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator at 85°C ± 1°C under an inert atmosphere of nitrogen in xylene as solvent was carried out. The system follows nonideal kinetics: R p α [I] 0.3 [M] 1.4 , due to both primary radical termination and degradative chain transfer reaction. The activation energy of the polymerization was estimated to be 22.97 kJ mol −1 . 1 H‐NMR spectrum of polymer shows the presence of a triplet between 2 and 2.5 δ, which reveals that β‐carbon of limonene is the active site in the polymerization of limonene. The FTIR spectrum of the polymer shows band at 1645 cm −1 due to gem disubstituted CC stretching vibrations. The glass transition temperature ( T g ) of the polylimonene of the polylimonene is 116°C. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012