Rapid and controlled synthesis of hydrophobic polyethers by monomer activation

Gervais, Matthieu; Brocas, Anne-Laure; Deffieux, Alain; Ibarboure, Emmanuel; Carlotti, Stephane

doi:10.1351/PAC-CON-11-11-16

Pure Appl. Chem., 2012, Vol. 84, No. 10, pp. 2103-2111

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-11-11-16

Published online 2012-06-24

Rapid and controlled synthesis of hydrophobic polyethers by monomer activation

Matthieu Gervais, Anne-Laure Brocas, Alain Deffieux, Emmanuel Ibarboure and Stephane Carlotti*

Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques, CNRS, ENSCPB, 16 avenue Pey Berland, 33607 Pessac Cedex, France

Abstract: A series of polyethers was prepared by monomer-activated anionic polymerization. The combination of an ammonium salt with triisobutylaluminum allowed the polymerization of epoxides containing various aliphatic side chains (1,2-butene oxide (BO), 1,2-hexene oxide (HO), and 1,2-octadecene oxide (ODO)) or a fluorinated group (3,3,3-trifluoro-1,2-epoxypropane (TFEP)). Polymers of molar masses up to 35 000 g/mol with relatively narrow molar mass distribution could be synthesized. Polymer structures were analyzed by ¹³C NMR, and the thermal behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The evolution of hydrophobicity was investigated according to the length and composition of the side chain. Using a long aliphatic side-chain epoxide (C16) imparted crystallinity to the resulting atactic polymer.