An experiment for the calculation of the degree of double bond conversion, after a polymerization reaction, of photopolymerizable liquid monomers using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy is reported. The experiment was successfully conducted with undergraduate students in materials engineering during the Fundamentals of Polymeric Material course. Students synthesized a Bis-GMA and TEGDMA copolymer through radical chain polymerization using visible light as the energy source (photopolymerization). Through the quantitative analysis of two absorption bands in the FTIR spectra of the monomer and the polymer, the νCC of the alkene group at 1638 cm −1 and the νCC of the aromatic ring at 1610 cm −1 , students calculated the degree of double bond conversion after the polymerization reaction. Students acquired competencies in the synthesis and qualitative and quantitative characterization of polymeric materials through FTIR spectroscopy.

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Two new bisallylic monomers [allyl p‐allyl carbonate benzoate (ApACBz) and 1,4‐phenylenbis(methylene)diallyl carbonate (1,4‐FMDAC)] and one bisacrylic monomer [1,4‐bis(acryloyloxymethyl)benzene (1,4‐BAMB)] were synthesized and used as crosslinking agents of methyl methacrylate (MMA) at different mass ratios (10, 20, 40, and 50%). All of the obtained copolymers showed improved thermal stability in comparison with that of the MMA homopolymer. Also, ApACBz and 1,4‐FMDAC were used as bisphenol A glycidyl methacrylate (Bis‐GMA) eluents to prepare dental resin composites. When compared to the control, the Bis‐GMA–new eluent composites had a higher double‐bond conversion, a higher solubility (p < 0.05) and a lower flexural strength (p < 0.05), whereas the elastic modulus and water sorption values were not statistically different (p > 0.05). The 1,4‐FMDAC and ApACBz monomers are promising eluents of Bis‐GMA for the preparation of dental composites with high degrees of conversion. In addition, the ApACBz, 1,4‐FMDAC, and 1,4‐BAMB monomers are potentially useful crosslinking agents when polymer networks of poly(methyl methacrylate) with a high thermal stability are desired. The application‐oriented tests of the monomers in dental composite formulations showed a sufficient storage stability, high photocuring activity, excellent crosslinking of MMA, and good thermal and mechanical properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42920.

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