TRIAZINE-BASED POLYMERS .4. MALDI-MS OF TRIAZINE-BASED POLYAMINES

Due to their poor solubility in organic solvents, triazine-based polya mines are very difficult to characterize with respect to chemical stru cture and molar mass. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is shown to be a unique method for investigat ing both the reaction between substituted 2,4-dichloro-s-triazines and diamines, and the chemical structure of the reaction products. Using formic acid as the solvent and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid as the matrix , well-resolved spectra are obtained and oligomer series with differen t end groups are identified. It is shown that partial hydrolysis of th e chlorine groups of the s-triazine which leads to chain termination, may be prevented by changing the catalyst. Investigation of the reacti on of a s-triazine with phenylene diamine revealed that in addition to the incorporation of phenylene diamine into the polymer chain, the se lf-condensation product, 2,7-diaminophenazine is incorporated as an en d group. Although quantitative information on the composition of the p roducts cannot be obtained directly at present, the qualitative descri ption of the polycondensation process by MALDI-MS is very valuable for further investigations.