Sustainable Myrcene-Based Elastomers via a Convenient Anionic Polymerization.

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Organic Synthesis

Background:

• Elastomeric materials are crucial in various industrial applications.
• Developing sustainable and tunable polymerization methods is a key research area.
• Anionic polymerization offers precise control over polymer architecture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the use of sodium hydride/trialkylaluminum heterocomplexes as anionic initiators.
• To explore the homo-, co-, and ter-polymerization of myrcene with styrene and isoprene.
• To produce elastomeric materials with controlled compositions and thermal properties.

Main Methods:

• Anionic polymerization initiated by sodium hydride/trialkylaluminum systems.
• Polymerization conducted at 100 °C in toluene.
• Characterization of copolymer microstructure, molecular weight, and thermal properties.
• Determination of copolymer reactivity ratios using Kelen-Tudos and extended Kelen-Tudos methods.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of elastomeric materials with diverse compositions and architectures.
• Detailed study of myrcene-styrene copolymers (PMS) with tapered microstructures and high molecular weights (up to 159.8 KDa).
• PMS exhibited a single glass transition temperature.
• Reactivity ratios for PMS were determined: r_myr = 0.12 ± 0.003, r_sty = 3.18 ± 0.65 (KT) and r_myr = 0.10 ± 0.004, r_sty = 3.32 ± 0.68 (exKT).

Conclusions:

• The developed anionic initiating system provides a convenient route for synthesizing various elastomers.
• This method allows for the production of advanced polymeric materials from renewable terpenes like myrcene.
• The study demonstrates an accessible approach for creating tailored elastomers through anionic copolymerization.