Robert Krantz Pinschmidt

Amine functional polymers based on N-ethenylformamide

Hydrophobic polymers with adjustable levels of primary amine functionality can be prepared by copolymerization of N-ethenylformamide (NEF) with higher vinyl esters and post hydrolysis of the formamide groups. The resulting polymers can be crosslinked under mild conditions using commercially available crosslinking chemistries. The high intrachain reactivity of the vinylamine group with, for example, neighboring co-polyacrylates and poor copolymerizability with other comonomers, for example, styrene, limits the generality of the approach. Pitfalls and solutions to the preparation of amine functional polymers via this approach are presented.

Grafting reactions of vinyl acetate onto poly[(vinyl alcohol)-co- (vinyl acetate)]

The grafting preference of vinyl acetate onto the methine carbon of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) versus the acetate group of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) was determined as part of an attempt to prepare novel branched PVOH from partially hydrolyzed PVAc. The results showed long chain grafting on the acetate groups of the PVAc units rather than the methine carbons of the PVOH or PVAc units. Decreasing the monomer or initiator concentration decreased the molecular weight of the graft copolymer formed. Of the initiators studied, ammonium persulfate gave the largest increase in copolymer molecular weight. Both hydrolysis and reacetylation combined with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and 13C-NMR of the fully hydrolyzed material were used to estimate the number and location of grafts.