Thermally responsive brush polymers having a copolymer backbone and copolymer arms
AssigneeInfineum International Limited
InventorsNga Nguyen, Ronald M. Lewis, Remzi Becer, Matilde Concilio
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Abstract
The description involves a brush copolymer composition comprising a copolymeric backbone including monomeric repeat units of at least two different acrylate monomers and copolymeric brush arms including monomeric repeat units of at least two different acylated poly(alkylene amine)s, in which the brush arms, the brush copolymer, or both may advantageously exhibit UCST behavior, e.g, in hydrocarbon diluent. Methods of making such copolymers using RAFT and CROP (pseudo-)living reaction processes are also described herein.
Claims9
A brush copolymer composition comprising a copolymeric backbone and copolymeric brush arms, wherein:
- the copolymeric brush arms comprise monomeric repeat units of at least two different acylated poly (alkylene amine) s of formulae (1) and (2):
- wherein each R5 is individually hydrogen or a linear or branched C1-C24 alkyl moiety;
- each R6, being different from each R5 although having the same or a greater number of carbons than each R5, is individually a linear or branched C8-C24 alkyl moiety;
- y and z are each 1 or 2;
- and a sum of m+n is from 90 mol % to 100 mol % of an average degree of polymerization of the copolymeric brush arms;
- and the copolymeric backbone comprises monomeric repeat units of at least two different acrylate monomers of formulae (3) and (4):
- wherein each R1 and R3 are individually hydrogen, a linear or branched C1-C4 alkyl moiety, or a mixture thereof;
- each R2 is individually a covalently-linked copolymeric brush arm, a residual hydrogen, a residual trisubstituted silyl group in which the substitutions are each individually a linear, branched, and/or cyclic C1-C8 alkyl, aryl, alkaryl, or aralkyl moiety, a residual linear, cyclic, or branched C1-C7 acyl moiety, a residual linear or branched C1-C4 hydroxyalkyl moiety, or a residual monovalent counterion;
- each R4 is individually a linear, branched, and/or cyclic C8-C30 alkyl, aryl, alkaryl, or aralkyl moiety;
- and a sum of a +b is from 90 mol % to 100 mol % of an average degree of polymerization of the copolymeric backbone.
A method of making a brush copolymer composition comprising a copolymeric backbone and copolymeric brush arms, the method comprising:
- providing a copolymeric backbone comprising monomeric repeat units of at least two different acrylate monomers of formulae (3) and (4):
- wherein each R1 and R3 are individually hydrogen, a linear or branched C1-C4 alkyl moiety, or a mixture thereof;
- each R2 is individually a hydrogen, a trisubstituted silyl group in which the substitutions are each individually a linear, branched, and/or cyclic C1-C8 alkyl, aryl, alkaryl, or aralkyl moiety, a linear, cyclic, or branched C1-C7 acyl moiety, a linear or branched C1-C4 hydroxyalkyl moiety, or a monovalent counterion;
- a sum of a +b is from 90 mol % to 100 mol % of an average degree of polymerization of the copolymeric backbone;
- and each R4 is individually a linear or branched C8-C30 alkyl, aryl, alkaryl, or aralkyl moiety providing copolymeric brush arms comprising monomeric repeat units of at least two different acylated poly (alkylene amine) s of formulae (1) and (2):
- wherein each R5 is individually hydrogen or a linear or branched C1-C24 alkyl moiety;
- each R6, being different from each R5 although having the same or a greater number of carbons than each R5, is individually a linear or branched C8-C24 alkyl moiety;
- y and z are each 1 or 2;
- and a sum of m+n is from 90 mol % to 100 mol % of an average degree of polymerization of the copolymeric brush arms;
- wherein the copolymeric brush arms are made via a cationic ring-opening polymerization (CROP) process using heterocyclic monomers containing a nitrogen and an oxygen atom, in which the additive chain end is terminated in a stabilized heterocyclic cation;
- and grafting the copolymeric brush arms onto the copolymeric backbone by:
- activating the acrylate monomeric repeat units of formula (3) in the copolymeric backbone by removing R2 and/or forming a carboxylate anion;
- and coupling the stabilized heterocyclic cation in the copolymeric brush arms to the activated repeat units of formula (3), thereby effectively grafting the copolymer brush arms onto the copolymeric backbone and thereby forming the brush copolymer composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.