Structural investigation of polyacrolein by fractional dehydration

Abstract

AbstractThe utilization of a specially developed technique for the low temperature pyrolysis of polyacrolein, and the accurate measurement of the waterr eleased thereby from the polymer have demonstrated the presence of well‐defined inflection points in the curve of water evolution versus dehydration (pyrolysis) temperature. These are postulated to indicate the presence of water in polyacrolein from a number of different sources, e.g., structural, hydrogen‐bonded, and free. A correlation of the measured water evolution between inflection point temperatures with the concurrently developing free carbonyl groups, measured by an infrared technique, has provided information on the type and proportion of various structural subunits in the polyacrolein molecule. This information has been used to construct a partial structural formula for the particular polyacrolein sample under examination. As a practical outgrowth of this work, the concept of the activation of polyacrolein by dehydration at elevated temperatures has proved useful in facilitating reaction of the polymer with a number of carbonyl reagents such as sodium bisulfite, SO2, etc.