Acetal metathesis polymerization

摘要

A method of preparing a polyacetal comprising polymerization of a mixture comprising a plurality of at least one bis-acetal monomer in the presence of an acid catalyst that promotes the metathesis of the acetal units. The bis-acetal can be formed from an acid catalyzed exchange between a mono-acetal monomer with a diol. The formation of the bis-acetal and the polyacetal can be carried out simultaneously. The diol can be isolated from a biorenewable source and the ultimate polyacetal is a degradable or biodegradable polymer.

主权项

1. A method of preparing a polyacetal comprising the steps of:
providing a polymerization mixture comprising a plurality of bis-acetal monomers of the structure: wherein R′ is independently C1 to C5 alkyl, R is one or more substituted or unsubstituted: C5 to C24 alkylene; C4 to C24 alkenylene; C6 to C14 arylene; C7 to C24 alkylarylene; heteroatom or carbonyl interrupted C3 to C24 alkylene; heteroatom or carbonyl interrupted C4 to C24 alkenylene; heteroatom or carbonyl interrupted C4 to C14 arylene; or heteroatom or carbonyl interrupted C5 to C24 alkylarylene; and polymerizing said bis-acetal monomers upon addition of a catalyst to said polymerization mixture to form a polyacetal that is a polymer or copolymer of the structure:  where n is on average greater than 10.