Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
the initial oxidation steps consist of formations of radicals at the tertiary
carbon atoms as they do in polystyrene. The radicals subsequently form peroxides that decompose
into ketones and aldehydes.
In
poly(vinyl toluene),
9.9.12 Oxidation of Step-Growth Polymers
Oxidation of step-growth polymers follows the paths that are similar to oxidation reactions of organic
molecules. Thus, oxidation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) was shown to proceed as follows [
529
]:
Path1
O
O
O
OOH
O
O
2
OO
2
O
O
O
O
+ RH
O
O
O
O
OH
O
+
R
O
O
O
O
OH
+
O
O
Path2
O
O
O
O
O
2
OO
O
2
O
O
RH
+
O
O
+
O
O
+
R
OH
-vicinal methylene group is the preferred side of
attack [
531
]. The reactivity depends, apparently, on the conformation of the amide group because an
interaction takes place between the
During thermal oxidation of
polyamides,
the
N
p
-electronic system of the carbonamide group and its C-H bonds.
In polycaprolactam, there exists a statistical distribution of both gauche and
trans
-conformations. The
N
-vicinal methylene groups in the
trans
-conformations to the amide groups are much more reactive
than gauche [
531
].
