The synthesis of poly(butylene terephthalate) from terephthalic acid, part I: The influence of terephthalic acid on the tetrahydrofuran formation

Abstract

An in depth study is performed on the origin of and influences on the formation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) during the first stage of the terephthalic acid (TPA) based synthesis of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT). Although many improvements on the synthesis process of PBT have been reported in literature to suppress this undesired side reaction, only few studies reported on the actual mechanism of the THF formation, which is not completely understood. Low molecular weight compounds have been used to model the side reactions occurring during the polymerization reaction. It could be concluded that, in contrast to previous reportage, only the THF formation from the monomer, 1,4‐butanediol, is directly influenced by the use of TPA as a starting material for the production of PBT. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009

Synthesis and radiocarbon evidence of terephthalate polyesters completely prepared from renewable resources

“…20 On the contrary, DMT is always the preferred monomer for PBT synthesis, since a consistent amount of tetrahydrofuran is formed using TPA as monomer. 21 The 1 H NMR spectrum of DMT obtained from limonene is identical to that reported in the literature for standard DMT. 8 Butanediol was prepared from bio-succinic acid.…”

Cross-Linking of Poly(butylene terephthalate) by Reactive Extrusion Using Zn(II) Epoxy-Vitrimer Chemistry

“…The increase can be assigned to the thermal degradation of end groups through THF elimination. [34][35][36][37][38][39] When DGEBA is added to PBT, compounds 2a-2d (green circles in Fig 2), we observe during mixing a decrease of the -COOH groups and an increase of the -OH groups concentrations.…”

Biodegradation of Endocrine Disruptors in Solid-Liquid Two-Phase Partitioning Systems by Enrichment Cultures

“…were also present in relatively high proportions (6%) in the MHy enrichment cultures, in which the Hytrel was never treated with methanol. Hytrel 8206 is produced through the polycondensation of dimethyl terephthalate and 1,4-butanediol, accompanied by the production of significant amounts of tetrahydrofuran as a side product (70). Some Hyphomicrobium spp.…”