Browsing by Subject "copolymerization"
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Item Metal Catalyzed Formation of Aliphatic Polycarbonates Involving Oxetanes and Carbon Dioxide as Monomers(2011-08-08) Moncada, Adriana I.Biodegradable aliphatic polycarbonates are important components of non-toxic thermoplastic elastomers, which have a variety of medical applications. Industrially, aliphatic polycarbonates derived from six-membered cyclic carbonates such as trimethylene carbonate (TMC or 1,3-dioxan-2-one) are produced via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) processes in the presence of a tin catalyst. It is worth mentioning that TMC is readily obtained by transesterification of 1,3-propanediol with various reagents including phosgene and its derivatives. Therefore, it has been of great interest to investigate greener routes for the production of this important class of polymers. Toward this goal, the synthesis of aliphatic polycarbonates via the metal catalyzed alternative coupling of oxetanes and carbon dioxide represents an attractive alternative. The use of an abundant, inexpensive, non-toxic, and biorenewable resource, carbon dioxide, makes this method very valuable. Furthermore, in this reaction, the sixmembered cyclic carbonate byproduct, TMC, can also be ring-opened and transformed into the same polycarbonate. For over a decade, the Darensbourg research group has successfully utilized metal salen complexes as catalysts for the epoxide/CO2 copolymerization process. Hence, this dissertation focuses on the examination of these complexes as catalysts for the oxetane/CO2 copolymerization reaction and the further elucidation of its mechanism. Chromium(III) salen derivatives in the presence of an azide ion initiator were determined to be very effective catalysts for the coupling of oxetanes and carbon dioxide providing polycarbonates with minimal amounts of ether linkages. Kinetic and mechanistic investigations performed on this process suggested that copolymer formation proceeded by two routes. These are the direct enchainment of oxetane and CO2, and the intermediacy of trimethylene carbonate, which was observed as a minor product of the coupling reaction. Anion initiators which are good leaving groups, e.g. bromide and iodide, are effective at affording TMC, and hence, more polycarbonate can be formed by the ROP of preformed trimethylene carbonate. Research efforts at tuning the selectivity of the oxetane/CO2 coupling process for TMC and/or polycarbonate produced from the homopolymerization of preformed TMC have been performed using cobalt(II) salen derivatives along with anion initiators. Lastly, investigations of this process involving 3-methoxy-methyl-3-methyloxetane will be presented.Item Structural and mechanistic studies into the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxides catalyzed by chromium salen complexes(Texas A&M University, 2006-08-16) Mackiewicz, Ryan MichaelThe ability to utilize cheaper starting materials in the synthesis of commercially important materials has been a goal of scientists since the advent of the chemical industry. The ideal situation would be one in which by combining the correct proportions of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen that virtually anything from simple sugars to complex polymers could be produced. Unfortunately, such processes are flights of fancy often reserved for movies and television shows. On a more realistic level, the utilization of simple molecules and a transition metal catalyst has been a process that industry has exploited for many years. The most easily identifiable process is that for polyolefin production, that employs homopolymerization of simple monomers such as ethylene and catalysts ranging from Ziegler-Natta to metallocene type catalysts. On a more difficult level copolymerization reactions require a delicate balance between two competing reactions and as a result these reactions have been much less successful. For over a decade now the Darensbourg Research Laboratories have focused on utilizing another simple molecule: carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a cheap, inert, nontoxic starting material that appears to be an ideal monomer. Although simplistic, CO2 is also very stable and its utilization in polymerization reactions have proven to be quite complex. In order for us to facilitate these reactions we employ both a transition metal catalyst and a comonomer. Epoxides act as an effective comonomer because the thermodynamic energy gained from breaking the strained three membered epoxide ring overcomes the stability of CO2 and allows the copolymerization reaction to occur. We have demonstrated a great deal of success with this process, most of which will be mentioned throughout this report. The majority of this dissertation will detail our use of salen complexes to optimize this copolymerization process, in order to further the use of CO2 as a viable source of C1 feedstock. Herein, I will illustrate how we have obtained more than a 100 fold increase in the rate of polymer formation as well as detailed mechanistic data that will provide a basis for future catalyst design studies.