Amine functional polymers based on N-ethenylformamide

Hydrophobic polymers with adjustable levels of primary amine functionality can be prepared by copolymerization of N-ethenylformamide (NEF) with higher vinyl esters and post hydrolysis of the formamide groups. The resulting polymers can be crosslinked under mild conditions using commercially available crosslinking chemistries. The high intrachain reactivity of the vinylamine group with, for example, neighboring co-polyacrylates and poor copolymerizability with other comonomers, for example, styrene, limits the generality of the approach. Pitfalls and solutions to the preparation of amine functional polymers via this approach are presented.