Polymerization of surface-active monomers: 5. Syntheses and polymerizations of anionic surface-active monomers: sodium di(10-undecenyl)sulphosuccinate and sodium n-undecyl 10-undecenylsulphosuccinate

Novel, anionic surface-active monomers, sodium di(10-undecenyl)sulphosuccinate (DUSS) and sodium n-undecyl 10-undecenylsulphosuccinate (MUSS) were prepared. The monomers were soluble in both water and apolar organic solvents on heating. DUSS and MUSS in water exhibited Kraft points at about 39°C and 48°C, respectively. The critical micelle concentrations for aqueous solutions of DUSS and MUSS at 50°C were determined to be 2.4 × 10⁻⁵ and 1.2 × 10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹, respectively. Polymerization of the monomers in darkness and under u.v. irradiation at 50°C were studied using three different solvents, namely water, n-hexane and dioxane, giving aqueous micelles (or vesicles), reversed micelles and isotropic solution, respectively. Only traces of polymers were formed for the polymerizations in darkness, while the polymerizations under u.v. irradiation gave polymers, except for the polymerization of MUSS in dioxane. The solvents used for the polymerization were observed to exert an effect on the solubility of the polymers of DUSS and only the polymer obtained from the polymerization in water was soluble in solvents such as water and N,N-dimethylformamide. Thus, the monomer aggregation, especially for the aqueous system, was found to affect the structure of the resulting polymers.