Novel Approach for the Synthesis of Chlorophosphazene Cycles with a Defined Size via Controlled Cyclization of Linear Oligodichlorophosphazenes [Cl(PCl2=N)n-PCl3]+[PCl6]. Int J Mol Sci 2021;22:ijms22115958. [PMID: 34073083 PMCID: PMC8199110 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22115958]

Despite a significant number of investigations in the field of phosphazene chemistry, the formation mechanism of this class of cyclic compounds is still poorly studied. At the same time, a thorough understanding of this process is necessary, both for the direct production of phosphazene rings of a given size and for the controlled cyclization reaction when it is secondary and undesirable. We synthesized a series of short linear phosphazene oligomers with the general formula Cl[PCl2=N]n–PCl₃⁺PCl₆^– and studied their tendency to form cyclic structures under the influence of elevated temperatures or in the presence of nitrogen-containing agents, such as hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) or ammonium chloride. It was established that linear oligophosphazenes are inert when heated in the absence of the mentioned cyclization agents, and the formation of cyclic products occurs only when these agents are involved in the process. The ability to obtain the desired size phosphazene cycle from corresponding linear chains is shown for the first time. Known obstacles, such as side interaction with the PCl₆^– counterion and a tendency of longer chains to undergo crosslinking elongation instead of cyclization are still relevant, and ways to overcome them are being discussed.

Isothermal Kinetics of Epoxyphosphazene Cure

The influence of epoxycyclophosphazene modifier on the process of epoxy-amine curing was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The study revealed that the curing process of epoxyphosphazene binders with 4′4′diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) provides more complete curing of the formulations in comparison with ones applying low molecular-weight polyamide curing agent (L-20). The isothermal kinetics of curing was described by means of model fitting and the isoconversional approach (Friedman method). Accurate n-order approximation was obtained for all systems under study. In particular, the 2-order equation fits well with the main part of curing excluding high degrees of conversion. The process of curing could be distinguished into three zones. The transition from zone 2 to zone 3 correlates with gelation. According to the isoconversional analysis by Friedman method, the diffusion-controlled mechanism is found at final stage of curing.

The Curing Rheokinetics of Epoxyphosphazene Binders

The influence of epoxyphosphazene-modifying additives on the features of the hot curing process of epoxy-amine composition was studied by the rotational viscometry method. The modification caused an acceleration of the curing process, changed rheokinetics of viscosity increase, especially the stage molecular mass growth of linear chains became almost twice shorter for composition with 30% modifier than for unmodified one. We suggest the reason for these changes is the polyfunctionality of epoxyphosphazene, which finally results in high-density network formation. In cold curing process the bulkiness of epoxyphosphazene molecule and the lack of heat for its motion results in incomplete cure. Thus, in order to cope with these difficulties hot curing systems were proposed and studied.

Synthesis of Phosphazene-Containing, Bisphenol A-Based Benzoxazines and Properties of Corresponding Polybenzoxazines

With the aim of obtaining halogen-free polybenzoxazazines with reduced flammability, phosphazene-containing benzoxazines (PhBZ) were synthesized in a two-stage method. In the first stage of the reaction of hexachlorocycotriphosphazene with bisphenol A at molar ratios of 1:12, 1:16, and 1:24, respectively, mixtures of bisphenol and hydroxyaryloxycyclotriphosphazenes were obtained, which mainly contained P₃N₃[OC₆H₄C(CH₃)₃C₆H₄OH]₆. In the second stage, when these mixtures interacted with aniline and an excess of paraformaldehyde in toluene at 80–90 °C, PhBZ containing 20–50% of the phosphazene component with M_w 1200–5800 were formed. According to ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, PhBZ contain a small amount of oligomeric compounds with Mannich aminomethylene bridges. With an increase of the content of the phosphazene component, the curing temperature of PhBZ decreases from 242 °C to 215 °C. Cured PhBZ samples with a phosphorus content of more than 1.5% have increased flammability resistance according to UL-94.