Hq. Xie et al., Ring-opening polymerization of epichlorohydrin and its copolymerization with other alkylene oxides by quaternary catalyst system, J APPL POLY, 80(13), 2001, pp. 2446-2454
An effective quaternary catalyst consisting of trialkyl aluminum, phosphori
c acid, electron donor, and water for ring-opening polymerization of epichl
orohydrin (ECH), as well as its copolymerization with ethylene oxide (EO),
propylene oxide (PO), and allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) to obtain elastomers,
were studied. We investigated the optimum composition for the quaternary ca
talyst; the character of the catalyst; the reactivity of the four alkylene
oxides during homopolymerization and copolymerization; the behavior of ECH,
EO, and PO during terpolymerization; and glass transition temperatures of
the copolymer and terpolymers. The results showed that the nitrogen-contain
ing electron donors are suitable as the third component, whereas oxygen-con
taining electron donors are not. Water as the fourth component can increase
the molecular weight of the homopolymer and copolymers of ECH. According t
o the polymerizability of tetrahydrofuran with the quaternary catalyst and
the reactivity ratios of the four alkylene oxides, the quaternary catalyst
was assumed to be of a coordinated anionic type. The reactivity ratios for
these four alkylene oxides were determined to be EO > PO > AGE > ECH. They
were verified by terpolymerization of ECH, EO, and PO. The glass transition
temperature of the terpolymer exhibits a minimum value at nearly 3:1 molar
ratio of PO to EO, when the molar ratio of ECH used is constant at the beg
inning of terpolymerization. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.