Arvind S. More

Novel green fatty acid-based bis-cyclic carbonates for the synthesis of isocyanate-free poly(hydroxyurethane amide)s

Fatty acid-based bis-cyclic 5-membered carbonates containing amide linkages were prepared from methyl 10-undecenoate. The reaction in bulk of these bio-based carbonates with a series of di-amines led to poly(hydroxyurethane amide)s with molar masses up to 31 000 g mol−1. As expected, the so-formed bio-based thermoplastic poly(hydroxyurethane)s exhibit amorphous to semi-crystalline features with respect to the chemical structure of the monomers used.

Electrochemical Fluorescence Switching from a Patternable Poly(1,3,4‐oxadiazole) Thin Film

A highly soluble poly(1,3,4-oxadiazole) (POD) substituted with long alkyl chains was examined for electrochemical fluorescence switching. The high solubility of the polymers enabled a simple fabrication of an electrochemical cell, which showed reversible fluorescence switching between dark (n-doping) and bright (neutral) states with a maximum on/off ratio of 2.5 and a cyclability longer than 1000 cycles. Photochemical cleavage of the oxadiazole in POD allowed photo-patterning of the POD film upon exposure to UV source. The patterned POD films displayed patterned image reversibly under a step potential of +1.8/-1.8 V.

Aliphatic polycarbonates and poly(ester carbonate)s from fatty acid derived monomers

Fatty acid derivatives were efficiently used as starting materials for the synthesis of polycarbonates and poly(ester carbonate)s. A novel AB-type self-condensable monomer, ethyl(9-hydroxy-10-methoxyoctadecyl)carbonate (EHMOC) and a dicarbonate monomer, 4-[(ethoxycarbonyl)oxy]butyl-12-[(ethoxycarbonyl)oxy]octadec-9-enoate (EOBEOE) were prepared from oleyl alcohol and ricinoleic acid, respectively. Of these, EHMOC was polymerized by the alcohol–carbonate exchange self-polycondensation approach, while EOBEOE was polycondensed with various biobased diols to give polycarbonates and poly(ester carbonate)s, respectively. The monomers and polymers were well characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The 13C-NMR spectroscopy revealed the formation of randomly distributed sequences in the poly(ester carbonate)s due to the carbonate interchange reaction. An unexpected formation of polyricinoleate was observed and confirmed by NMR and MALDI-TOF spectroscopy. Most of the polymers displayed good thermal stability with the temperature at 10% weight loss in the range 273–325 °C. Due to the presence of aliphatic segments, these materials exhibit very low glass transition temperature.