Microwave‐Assisted Free Radical Polymerizations and Copolymerizations of Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate

Abstract

Summary: Radical homopolymerizations and copolymerizations of styrene were performed in toluene and N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvents using different initiators with and without microwave irradiation. Only the homopolymerization of styrene under microwave irradiation in DMF with DtBP showed significantly enhanced styrene conversion whereas other initiators resulted in no or only slight increase of styrene conversion under microwave irradiation. In any case, DMF was required to gain in styrene conversion under microwave irradiation. Significantly higher monomer conversions were observed under otherwise comparable conditions in the copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in DMF. Microwave‐induced selectivity of monomers was not observed in copolymerizations.Yield of styrene polymerizations under varying reaction conditions initiated by DtBP.imageYield of styrene polymerizations under varying reaction conditions initiated by DtBP.

Recent Advances in Microwave-Assisted Polymer Synthesis

“…[42] Free Radical Copolymerizations Greiner and coworkers investigated the free radical polymerization of styrene and copolymerization of styrene and MMA with and without MW irradiation (monomode MW reactor, temperature control) by using different organic peroxide initiators in a solution of toluene and N,N -dimethylformamide (DMF). [44] It was found that the homopolymerizations of styrene in DMF showed a significantly higher monomer conversion under MW conditions compared with experiments performed in an oil bath. However, the conversions of polymerizations performed in toluene were not influenced by MW irradiation.…”

One Decade of Microwave‐Assisted Polymerizations: Quo vadis?

“…Solvent effects for free-radical polymerizations were investigated in detail by Greiner and coworkers. [15,16] Given the example of the tert-butyl perbenzoate (tBPB)-initiated radical copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate (MMA), no significant effects were observed in toluene, but in DMF. tBPB was the initiator with the lowest decomposition rate of all peroxides investigated in this comparative study, comprising also dibenzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide.…”

Solvent Free Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Poly Myristyl Acrylate—Characterization and Evaluation as Additives for Lubricating Oil

“…Hence six different homopolymers of myristyl acrylate, P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4, P-5, and P-6 correspond to reaction times 25, 20, 15, 10, 8, and 2 min, respectively, are obtained (Stange et al, 2006).…”