Web Release Date: May 18,
Investigation of the Living Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization of
2-Methyl-, 2-Ethyl-, 2-Nonyl-, and 2-Phenyl-2-oxazoline in a
Single-Mode Microwave Reactor
Laboratory of Macromolecular Chemistry and Nanoscience, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), Den Dolech 2, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Received December 15, 2004
Revised Manuscript Received April 17, 2005
Abstract:
The living cationic ring-opening polymerizations of 2-methyl-, 2-ethyl-, 2-nonyl-, and
2-phenyl-2-oxazoline were performed in acetonitrile at high temperatures of up to 200 
C in a single-mode microwave reactor. Upon enhancing the reaction rates by factors of up to 400 in the range from 80
to 200 C, the first-order kinetics of the monomer consumption and the livingness of the polymerization
were maintained. As a consequence of the fast, direct, and noncontact heating by the microwave irradiation,
the polymerizations could be carried out in highly concentrated solutions or even from bulk conditions,
yielding well-defined polymers (PDI < 1.20). Under the conditions applied in this study, a maximum
number of 300 monomers (100 in the case of 2-methyl- and 2-nonyl-2-oxazoline) could be incorporated
into the polymer chains under the premise that the average molecular weight distributions remained
narrow (PDI < 1.20).
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