Poly(methyl methacrylate) containing pyrrole moieties in the side chains

Abstract

Abstract Two synthetic routes to copolymers 7 of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with 2‐( N ‐pyrrolyl)ethyl methacrylate (PEMA, 11 ) are compared. Copolymerization of MMA (4) with 2‐bromoethyl methacrylate (BEMA, 3 ) leads to a precursor copolymer 5 . The reactivity ratios are close to unity ( r MMA = 0,90, r BEMA = 0,92). The polymer‐analogous reaction of 5 with N ‐pyrrolylpotassium (6) runs to 99% conversion of the BEMA units. The synthesis of PEMA (11) is presented. The reactivity ratios of copolymerization of this monomer (11) with MMA (4) are determined to r MMA = 1.05 and r PEMA = 1,65. Copolymers 7 are further characterized by 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, gel‐permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry.