Alternating Copolymerization of Epoxides with Isothiocyanates
Chao Chen, Yves Gnanou, Xiaoshuang Feng
Abstract
The ring-opening copolymerization of epoxides with isothiocyanates (ITCs) is explored for the first time. In the presence of phosphazenium benzoxide, epoxides investigated in this work including propylene oxide, ethylene oxide, and cyclohexene oxide were successfully copolymerized with both an aromatic ITC, phenyl isothiocyanate, and two aliphatic ITCs, ethyl isothiocyanate and hexyl isothiocyanate. Effects of the phosphazene bases used, of the temperature, and of the presence of Lewis acids, triethyl borane and diethyl zinc (ZnEt2), on the alternating copolymerization were investigated respectively. The thermal properties of the obtained copolymers were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The present work reports new ITC heteroallene monomers being alternating copolymerized with epoxides.