Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

In Situ Quenching And Post-Polymerization Modification Of Telechelic Polyisobutylene, Todd Raymond Hartlage

Dissertations

Polyisobutylene (PIB) is a saturated hydrocarbon elastomer that can only be produced by cationic polymerization. The water-initiated, chain transfer controlled synthesis conducted on an industrial scale produces monofunctional PIB with mixed olefin end groups. Living cationic techniques produce mono- and di-functional telechelic PIB. In situ quenching is the process of adding functional molecules to the polymerization reactor after all monomer is consumed. These quencher species bond to the chain ends, installing their latent functionality onto the polymer chain. To date, all quenchers utilized have been soft π-nucleophiles.

In the first project, free thiols, both aromatic and aliphatic, are shown to …