Investigation of the Living Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization of 2-Methyl-, 2-Ethyl-, 2-Nonyl-, and 2-Phenyl-2-oxazoline in a Single-Mode Microwave Reactor

Wiesbrock, Frank; Hoogenboom, Richard; Leenen, Mark A. M.; Meier, Michael; Schubert, Ulrich S.

Abstract:

The living cationic ring-opening polymerizations of 2-methyl-, 2-ethyl-, 2-nonyl-, and 2-phenyl-2-oxazoline were performed in acetonitrile at high temperatures of up to 200 °C in a singlemode microwave reactor. Upon enhancing the reaction rates by factors of up to 400 in the range from 80 to 200 °C, the first-order kinetics of the monomer consumption and the livingness of the polymerization were maintained. As a consequence of the fast, direct, and noncontact heating by the microwave irradiation, the polymerizations could be carried out in highly concentrated solutions or even from bulk conditions, yielding well-defined polymers (PDI

Year:

2005

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Macromolecules

Volume:

38

Pages:

5025 - 5034