Synthesis of graft copolymers with polyisobutylene branch chains

Abstract

The copolymerization of 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) and vinyl acetate (VAC) was carried out in toluene at 75°C via radical polymerization using 2,2′-azo-bis-(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as an initiator. The random copolymers of poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate) (P(VBC-co-VAC)) with number average molecular weight (Mn) from 2000 to 6900, relatively narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD, Mw/Mnca. 2.0) and with different copolymer composition of 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) from 17 mol% to 62 mol% could be obtained. The P(VBC-co-VAC) copolymers with an average number of 7 to 13 initiating sites of benzyl chloride per macromolecule could be used for the cationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB). The cationic polymerizations of IB were further conducted by using P(VBC-co-VAC) copolymers as macroinitiators in conjunction with TiCl4 at −40°C in CH2Cl2. The effects of VBC/TiCl4 (molar ratio) on monomer conversion, Mn and MWD of the resultant copolymers were investigated under 3 sets of conditions. It is found that P(VBC-co-VAC)-g-PIB copolymers with relatively narrow MWD (Mw/Mnca. 2.0) and with terminal tert-chlorine functional groups in branched PIB chains could be successfully synthesized when VBC/TiCl4 (molar ratio) was set in the range from 0.10 to 1.12. The unimodal GPC curve of the P(VBC-co-VAC)-g-PIB copolymers by RI detector was almost in harmony with the GPC curve by UV detector. The TEM image of the P(VBC-co-VAC)-g-PIB copolymer stained by RuO indicated that the copolymer formed a two-phase morphology with P(VBC-co-VAC)-rich domains of 20–100 nm in size tethered by PIB branch segments.