Gennadi G. Nossarev, T. Hogen-esch
Jan 30, 2002
Citations
0
Influential Citations
20
Citations
Journal
Macromolecules
Abstract
The first synthesis of well-defined narrow molecular weight (MW) distribution macrocyclic poly(2-vinylnaphthalene) (P2VN) containing a single 1,4-benzylidene or 9,10-anthracenylidene unit is reported. The synthesis involves the potassium naphthalide (K-Naph) or potassium 1,1,4,4,7,7,10,10-octamethyl-1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10-octahydronaphthacene (K-OMOHN) initiated polymerization of 2-vinylnaphthalene (2VN) in THF at −78 °C, followed by end-to-end coupling of the resulting P2VN dianions under high dilution conditions (10-6−10-4 M). Narrow MW distribution (1.11−1.26) P2VN macrocycles with MW's between 740 and 13 200 have hydrodynamic volumes that are between 5% and 29% smaller than those of the matching linear chains. The glass transition temperatures of macrocyclic P2VN do not deviate from the limiting value (151 °C) of the high MW P2VN, decreasing only below a DPn of about 20. Compared to the linear analogues, macrocyclic P2VN shows higher nonoxidative thermal decomposition stability.