Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to copolymers bearing cyclic carbonate group

This study is related to the investigation of the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to copolymers bearing a cyclic carbonate group and their application to polymer blends. In the synthesis of (2-oxo-l,3-dioxolan4-yl) methyl vinyl ether (OVE) from glycidyl vinyl ether (GVE) and CO₂, quaternary ammonium salt catalysts showed good yield of OVE. The results with long alkyl chain and with lower accessibility showed a higher catalytic activity. Mixed catalyst of PEG-4000 and Nal showed higher catalytic activity than Nal alone. The copolymer of OVE and acrylonitrile (AN) was prepared by radical copolymerization in acetonitrile at 60 °C. The monomer reactivity ratios were given as r₁(OVE)=0.36 and r₂(AN)=1.21 in the copolymerization of OVE and AN. The films of poly(OVE-co-AN)/PVC blends were cast from DMF. The poly(OVE-co-AN)/PVC blends showed good miscibility over whole composition ranges.