LANGMUIR AND LANGMUIR-BLODGETT-FILMS OF DERIVATIVES OF ALPHA-OLEFIN-MALEIC ANHYDRIDE ALTERNATING COPOLYMERS PREPARED FROM OLEFINS CONTAINING HYDROPHILIC GROUPS
Ip. Aspin et al., LANGMUIR AND LANGMUIR-BLODGETT-FILMS OF DERIVATIVES OF ALPHA-OLEFIN-MALEIC ANHYDRIDE ALTERNATING COPOLYMERS PREPARED FROM OLEFINS CONTAINING HYDROPHILIC GROUPS, Polymer, 36(8), 1995, pp. 1707-1714
A range of long chain alpha-olefins were prepared which contained amid
e (four examples) or ester (five examples) linkages. The olefins were
copolymerized with maleic anhydride and the alternating copolymers pro
duced were subjected to ring-opening reactions at the anhydride residu
es to give polymers containing acid-ester, acid-acid or acid-amide hea
d groups. Monolayers of these polymers on water were studied and, in f
avourable cases, thick Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers were prepared. Th
e latter were studied by X-ray reflectivity. The results obtained were
compared with those obtained from analogous polymers prepared startin
g from the simple alpha-olefins undecene, octadecene and tricosene. Th
e polymers prepared from the alpha-olefins containing amide linkages g
enerally gave poor monolayers and in only one case could a Langmuir-Bl
odgett multilayer be prepared. The polymers prepared from the alpha-ol
efins containing ester linkages generally gave better monolayers, espe
cially if the ester group was shielded from solvation either by being
surrounded with lipophilic chains or by virtue of being a t-butyl este
r or an ester of an aromatic acid, or because the ester was linked to
a mesogenic group. Several of the latter polymers gave excellent Langm
uir-Blodgett firms. In general polymers with acid-acid head groups gav
e better films than the analogues with acid-methyl ester head groups.