Synthesis and polymerization of the acrylamide derivatives of fatty compounds

Polymers without Petrochemicals: Sustainable Routes to Conventional Monomers

Access to a wide range of plastic materials has been rationalized by the increased demand from growing populations and the development of high-throughput production systems. Plastic materials at low costs with reliable properties have been utilized in many everyday products. Multibillion-dollar companies are established around these plastic materials, and each polymer takes years to optimize, secure intellectual property, comply with the regulatory bodies such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency and develop consumer confidence. Therefore, developing a fully sustainable new plastic material with even a slightly different chemical structure is a costly and long process. Hence, the production of the common plastic materials with exactly the same chemical structures that does not require any new registration processes better reflects the reality of how to address the critical future of sustainable plastics. In this review, we have highlighted the very recent examples on the synthesis of common monomers using chemicals from sustainable feedstocks that can be used as a like-for-like substitute to prepare conventional petrochemical-free thermoplastics.

The serendipitous effect of KF in Ritter reaction: Photo-induced amino-alkylation of alkenes

Ritter reaction has been recognized as an elegant strategy to construct the C−N bond. Its key feature is forming the carbocation for nucleophilic attack by nitriles. Herein, we report a complementary visible-light-induced three-component Ritter reaction of alkenes, nitriles, and α-bromo nitriles/esters, thereby providing mild and rapid access to various γ-amino nitriles/acids. Mechanistic studies indicated that traceless fluoride relay, transforming KF into imidoyl fluoride intermediate, is critical for the efficient reaction switch from atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) to the Ritter reaction. This approach to amino-alkylation of alkenes is chemoselective and operationally simple.

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Using light irradiation to promote amino-alkylation of alkenes

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Using KF to facilitate three-component Ritter reaction

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Access functionalized amides under mild conditions

One-Step Synthesis of Novel Renewable Vegetable Oil-Based Acrylate Prepolymers and Their Application in UV-Curable Coatings

With the rapid development of social economy, problems such as volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution and the excessive consumption of global petroleum resources have become increasingly prominent. People are beginning to realize that these problems not only affect the ecological environment, but also hinder the development of the organic polymer material industry based on raw fossil materials. Therefore, the modification and application of bio-based materials are of theoretical and practical significance. In this study, a series of vegetable oil-based acrylate prepolymers were synthesized by one-step acrylation using palm oil, olive oil, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, canola oil, and grapeseed oil as raw materials, and the effect of different double bond contents on the product structure and grafting rate was investigated. Furthermore, the as-prepared vegetable oil-based acrylate prepolymers, polyurethane acrylate (PUA-2665), trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), and photoinitiator (PI-1173) were mixed thoroughly to prepare ultraviolet (UV)-curable films. The effect of different grafting numbers on the properties of these films was investigated. The results showed that as the degree of unsaturation increased, the acrylate grafting number and the cross-linking density increased, although the acrylation (grafting reaction) rate decreased. The reason was mainly because increasing the double bond content could accelerate the reaction rate, while the grafted acrylic groups had a steric hindrance effect to prevent the adjacent double bonds from participating in the reaction. Furthermore, the increase in grafting number brought about the increase in the structural functionality of prepolymers and the cross-linking density of cured films, which led to the enhancement in the thermal (glass transition temperature) and mechanical (tensile strength, Young’s modulus) properties of the cured films.

Synthesis and Properties of Tung Oil-Based Unsaturated Co-Ester Resins Bearing Steric Hindrance

New tung oil (TO)-based, unsaturated, co-ester (Co-UE) macromonomers bearing steric hindrance were synthesized by modifying a TO-based maleate (TOPERMA) monomer with an anhydride structure with hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and methallyl alcohol (MAA), respectively. The obtained Co-UE monomers (TOPERMA-HEMA and TOPERMA-MAA) were then characterized by ¹ H NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). For comparison, hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA)-modified TOPERMA (TOPERMA-HEA) was also synthesized and characterized. Subsequently, the obtained Co-UEs were thermally cured with styrene, and the ultimate properties of the resulting materials were studied. It was found that by introducing the structure of steric hindrance into the TO-based Co-UE monomer, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the resulting materials were improved. Furthermore, by reducing the length of the flexible chain in the Co-UE monomer, the tensile strength, Young's modulus, and glass transition temperature (T_g) of the resultant materials were also improved. The TOPERMA-MAA resin gave the best performance in these TO-based Co-UE resins, which showed a tensile strength of 32.2 MPa, Young's modulus of 2.38 GPa, and T_g of 130.3 °C. The developed ecofriendly materials show promise in structural plastic applications.

Fatty Acid-Based Radically Polymerizable Monomers: From Novel Poly(meth)acrylates to Cutting-Edge Properties

The increasing price of barrels of oil, global warming, and other environmental problems favor the use of renewable resources to replace the petroleum-based polymers used in various applications. Recently, fatty acids (FAs) and their derivatives have appeared among the most promising candidates to afford novel and innovative bio-based (co)polymers because of their ready availability, their low toxicity, and their high versatility. However, the current literature mostly focused on FA-based polymers prepared by condensation polymerization or oxypolymerization, while only a few works have been devoted to radical polymerization due to the low reactivity of FAs through radical process. Thus, the aim of this Review is to give an overview of (i) the most common synthetic pathways reported in the literature to provide suitable monomers from FAs and their derivatives for radical polymerization, (ii) the available radical processes to afford FA-based (co)polymers, and (iii) the different applications in which FA-based (co)polymers have been used since the past few years.

Undecylenic acid: a valuable and physiologically active renewable building block from castor oil

A lot of attention is currently being paid to the transition to a biobased economy. In this movement, most efforts concentrate on the development of bioenergy applications including bioethanol, biodiesel, thermochemical conversion of biomass, and others. However, in the energy sector other nonbiomass alternatives are known, whereas no valuable alternatives are available when thinking about chemical building blocks. Therefore, it is also essential to develop new routes for the synthesis of bio-based chemicals and materials derived thereof. Such intermediates can originate either from plants or from animals. Castor oil is a non-edible oil extracted from the seeds of the castor bean plant Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae), which grows in tropical and subtropical areas. Globally, around one million tons of castor seeds are produced every year, the leading producing areas being India, PR China, and Brazil.2 10-Undecenoic acid or undecylenic acid is a fatty acid derived from castor oil that, owing to its bifunctional nature, has many possibilities to develop sustainable applications.