Polymers with indane units by cationic polymerization

Abstract

In spite of the difunctionality of the monomers, cationic polymerization of 1,3- and 1,4-diisopropenylbenzene does not lead to branched or cross-linked products. Instead, soluble polymers are obtained, containing the 1,1,3-trimethylindane system as repetitive unit along the backbone. These polymers are interesting materials because of their high glass transition temperature (200°C-250°C) and good thermal stability in air (2% weight loss at 450°C). Although the molar mass of the polyindanes seems to be limited due to a side reaction, it is possible to produce telechelic polyindanes. Substitution of an alkyl side chain onto the isopropenyl groups of 1,4-diisopropenylbenzene leads to monomers which yield substituted polyindanes with glass transition temperatures as low as 26°C. Such polymers still exhibit good thermal stability: at 340°C a weight loss of only 2% occurs. 1,4-Diisopropenylbenzene can even be anionically polymerized to linear polymers. In this case, the resulting polymer possesses isopropenyl phenyl side groups, which can be used as initiators for cationic polymerization of isobutene to obtain grafted copolymers.