Abstract
The copolymerization of styrene with isoprene (Ip) has been tested using combined zirconocene–methylaluminoxane (MAO) initiating system. Both “half-sandwich” and real zirconium-based metallocenes were used. Regardless of the metallocene employed, conversion to copolymer was much influenced by the proportion of Ip in the initial feed. As the proportion of Ip is enriched, conversion to copolymer decreases substantially. Results of NMR and DSC analyses indicate that the products obtained were truly copolymers and not a mixture of both homopolymers. The studied zirconocene–MAO initiating system produces atactic polystyrene. A small amount of Ip in the initial feed substantially diminishes the conversion and at best traces of poly(isoprene) were detected in the homopolymerization of Ip with these initiating systems.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support by the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) under Project 108-5061 is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Francisco J. Rodríguez of the Laboratorio Envases, Laben-Chile (USACH) for the DSC analyses and Dr. Juan del C. Guerrero of the Facultad de Química y Biología (USACH) for measurement of NMR spectra. Thanks are due to Dr. Antxon Martínez de Ilarduya, of the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, for discussion and advise on NMR spectra.
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Rabagliati, F.M., Muñoz, L.A. & Quijada, R. Styrene copolymerization using a metallocenic initiator. Homo- and copolymerization of styrene with isoprene through zirconocene–MAO initiating systems. Polym. Bull. 67, 1425–1434 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-011-0457-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-011-0457-4