Novel polymerizable N‐aromatic maleimides as free radical initiators for photopolymerization

Abstract

AbstractFour kinds of polymerizable N‐aromatic maleimides (MIs)—4‐[(4‐maleimido)phenoxy]benzophenone (MPBP), 4,4′‐bis[(4‐maleimido)phenoxy]benzophenone (BMPBP), 4‐maleimidobenzophenone (MBP), and 4,4′‐bismaleimidobenzophenone (BMBP)—were synthesized as free radical photoinitiators, by introducing directly N‐phenylmaleimide groups or maleimide groups into the molecule of benzophenone (BP). Compared with BP, their UV‐visible spectra have a significantly red‐shifted maximum absorption. The maximum absorption of MIs containing bifunctional maleimide groups is slightly larger than the corresponding monofunctional ones. Choosing an unsaturated tertiary amine N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) as coinitiator, the photopolymerization of 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA), initiated by these four MIs, was studied through photo‐DSC. The results show that all the MIs are dramatically more efficient than BP. Among them, MPBP is the most efficient, in which the polymerization rate is almost three times as high as that of the BP system. Photoinitiators containing bifunctional maleimide groups, though having higher final conversion, are less efficient than the corresponding monofunctional ones. These polymerizable photoredox systems significantly reduced the migration of the active species, leading to their higher efficiency. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry