Claims
- 1. A polymerization process for preparing anhydride polymers, comprising polymerizing monomer selected from one or more of maleic anhydride, citraconic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, 1,2,3,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, 5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride, bicyclo[2.2.2]-5-octene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride, 3-methyl-1,2,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride and 2-methyl-1,3,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, in the presence of
- (a) an aromatic hydrocarbon,
- (b) 3 to 30 percent by weight, based on weight of monomer, of dialkyl peroxide, and
- (c) 0.01 to 3 percent by weight, based on weight of monomer, of an amine compound selected from one or more of ammonia, (C.sub.1 -C.sub.22)aliphatic amine and (C.sub.6 -C.sub.20)aromatic amine;
- until greater than 90 percent by weight of the anhydride monomer has been converted to polymer.
- 2. The process according to claim 1 wherein the polymerization is conducted at a temperature from 80 to 180.degree. C.
- 3. The process according to claim 1 wherein the monomer comprises at least 90 percent maleic anhydride by weight based on total weight of monomer.
- 4. The process according to claim 1 wherein the aromatic hydrocarbon is selected from one or more of toluene, (C.sub.8)aromatic hydrocarbon, (C.sub.9)aromatic hydrocarbon and (C.sub.10)aromatic hydrocarbon.
- 5. The process according to claim 4 wherein the (C.sub.8)aromatic hydrocarbon is selected from one or more of ethylbenzene, ortho-xylene, meta-xylene and paraxylene.
- 6. The process according to claim 1 wherein the amine compound is selected from one or more of dibutylamine, ethylhexylamine, methydibutyl-amine, ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, n-octylamine, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutylamine and dimethylaniline.
- 7. The process according to claim 1 wherein the dialkyl peroxide is used in an amount from 10 to 20 percent by weight based on weight of monomer.
- 8. The process according to claim 1 wherein the amine compound is used in an amount from 0.1 to 1 percent by weight based on weight of monomer.
- 9. The process according to claim 1 wherein the anhydride polymer has a weight-average molecular weight of less than 2,000.
- 10. The process according to claim 1 wherein the anhydride is present in a concentration of from 25 to 70 percent by weight, based on total weight of reaction mixture.
- 11. The process according to claim 10 wherein the concentration is from 30 to 60 percent by weight.
- 12. The process according to claim 1 wherein optional monomer polymerized in combination with anhydride monomers is less than 20 percent by weight, based on total weight of monomer.
- 13. The process according to claim 12 wherein the optional monomer polymerized is less than 5 percent by weight.
- 14. The process according to claim 1 wherein greater than 95 percent by weight of the anhydride monomer has been converted to polymer.
- 15. The process according to claim 1 wherein the amine compound and the dialkyl peroxide are in a weight ratio of 0.001/1 to 0.5/1 with respect to each other.
- 16. The process according to claim 1 wherein the dialkyl peroxide is selected from one or more of di-tert-butyl peroxide, di-tert-amyl peroxide, n-butyl-4,4-di(tert-butylperoxy)pivalate, tert-butyl cumyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide.
Parent Case Info
This is a nonprovisional application of prior provisional application Ser. No. 60/041,224 filed Mar. 18, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1040415 |
Aug 1966 |
GBX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Joginder Lal and R. Green, Journal of Polymer Science Effect of Amine Accelerators on the Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with Benzoyl Peroxide; 1955: 403-409. |