Acyclic Triene Metathesis Polymerization of Plukenetia Conophora Oil: Branched Polymers by Direct Polymerization of Renewable Resources

Fatty Acids and their Derivatives as Renewable Platform Molecules for the Chemical Industry

Oils and fats of vegetable and animal origin remain an important renewable feedstock for the chemical industry. Their industrial use has increased during the last 10 years from 31 to 51 million tonnes annually. Remarkable achievements made in the field of oleochemistry in this timeframe are summarized herein, including the reduction of fatty esters to ethers, the selective oxidation and oxidative cleavage of C-C double bonds, the synthesis of alkyl-branched fatty compounds, the isomerizing hydroformylation and alkoxycarbonylation, and olefin metathesis. The use of oleochemicals for the synthesis of a great variety of polymeric materials has increased tremendously, too. In addition to lipases and phospholipases, other enzymes have found their way into biocatalytic oleochemistry. Important achievements have also generated new oil qualities in existing crop plants or by using microorganisms optimized by metabolic engineering.

Thermally Reversible Polymeric Networks from Vegetable Oils

Low cross-link density thermally reversible networks were successfully synthesized from jatropha and sunflower oils. The oils were epoxidized and subsequently reacted with furfurylamine to attach furan groups onto the triglycerides, preferably at the epoxide sites rather than at the ester ones. Under the same reaction conditions, the modified jatropha oil retained the triglyceride structure more efficiently than its sunflower-based counterpart, i.e., the ester aminolysis reaction was less relevant for the jatropha oil. These furan-modified oils were then reacted with mixtures of aliphatic and aromatic bismaleimides, viz. 1,12-bismaleimido dodecane and 1,1'-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene)bismaleimide, resulting in a series of polymers with T_g ranging between 3.6 and 19.8 °C. Changes in the chemical structure and mechanical properties during recurrent thermal cycles suggested that the Diels-Alder and retro-Diels-Alder reactions occurred. However, the reversibility was reduced over the thermal cycles due to several possible causes. There are indications that the maleimide groups were homopolymerized and the Diels-Alder adducts were aromatized, leading to irreversibly cross-linked polymers. Two of the polymers were successfully applied as adhesives without modifications. This result demonstrates one of the potential applications of these polymers.

Molecular Motion of the Junction Points in Model Networks Prepared by Acyclic Triene Metathesis

The junction dynamics in a selectively deuterated model polymer network containing junctions on every 21st chain carbon is studied by solid state (2) H echo NMR. Polymer networks are prepared via acyclic triene metathesis of deuteron-labeled symmetric trienes with deuteron probes precisely placed at the alpha carbon relative to the junction point. The effect of decreasing the cross-link density on the junction dynamics is studied by introduction of polybutadiene chains in-between junctions. The networks are characterized by swelling, gel content, and solid state (1) H MAS NMR. Line shape analysis of the (2) H quadrupolar echo spectra reveals that the degree of motion anisotropy and the distribution of motion correlation times depend on the cross-link density and structural heterogeneity of the polymer networks. A detailed model of the junction dynamics at different temperatures is proposed and explained in terms of the intermolecular cooperativity in densely-packed systems.

Microwave-ultrasound simultaneous irradiation: a hybrid technology applied to ring closing metathesis

Glycerol micelles were suitable nanoreactors for ring-closing metathesis reaction activated by a hybrid microwave-ultrasound reactor. Nine different Ru-catalysts were investigated.

Acyclic diene metathesis polymerization and heck polymer-polymer conjugation for the synthesis of star-shaped block copolymers

Three- and four-arm star shaped polymers, as well as diblock copolymers, are synthesized via acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization. This is accomplished by using an asymmetric α,ω-diene containing a terminal double bond and an acrylate, which is polymerized in the presence of multifunctional acrylates as selective and irreversible chain transfer agents using Hoveyda-Grubbs second generation catalyst. High cross-metathesis selectivities are achieved at low temperatures enabling good control over molecular weights. Furthermore, additional polyethyleneglycol (PEG) blocks are attached to these polymers via Heck coupling of the acrylate end-groups of these polymers with aryl iodide functionalized PEG, obtaining three- and four-arm star shaped di- and triblock copolymers with molecular weights up to 31 kDa.