Polymerization of Substituted Butadienes at the Gas-Water Interface

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Abstract
In order to investigate the polymerization behaviour of long-chain amphiphilic compounds in dependence of their orientation, 1,4-disubstituted butadienes of the type: CH3-(CH2)12-CH = CH-CH[dbnd]CH-X X = -COOH, -CHO, -CH2OH have been synthesized and investigated in a mono layer at the gas-water interface. The orientation of the compounds has been studied by means of a Langmuir film balance. The alcohol exhibits an orientation similar to that of saturated compounds. The orientation of the aldehyde and the acid differ from the expected behaviour because of the enhanced hydrophilicity of the headgroup due to the conjugation of the carbonyl group to the diene unit. Attempts to polymerize the substances radically have been made in melt, in solution, in the crystalline state and in monolayers. A polymer was only obtained in the case of monolayer polymerization. This fact can be explained with the necessity of a defined orientation of the monomers before the polymerization. The poly-reaction was followed by the contraction of the film. The kinetics of the polymerization show a different reactivity for the alcohol and the carbonyl compounds. The resulting polymer is assumed to have a poly-1,4-trans backbone.

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