POLYMERIZATION OF UNSATURATED DIBASIC ACID-DERIVATIVES CAPABLE OF FORMING MICELLES - A NOVEL SYNTHETIC METHOD FOR ANIONIC OLIGOMERS WITH HIGH CHARGE-DENSITIES

A novel synthetic method for producing anionic oligomers with high cha rge densities was developed by polymerization of surface active monome rs in aqueous micellar solutions. Unsaturated dibasic acids, such as i taconic, maleic and fumaric acids, having low or no homopolymerizabili ty in water, were converted to surface active derivatives by introduci ng a long chain alkyl by ester or amide bonding. Their polymerizabilit ies were greatly improved to give poly(itaconic acid derivative)s and poly(fumaric acid derivative)s in fairly good yield. However, in the c ase of sodium salts of maleic acid half ester and N-alkylmaleamic acid , hydrolysis of the monomer as a side reaction during the polymerizati on occurred to a great extent, reducing the active monomer concentrati on, and the polymer formation was apparently saturated at a rather ear ly stage of the process. The resulting polymers, with molecular weight in the oligomer region, were hydrolysed to the polyanions.