Use of a new methacrylic monomer, 4,4′-di(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)benzophenone, in the synthesis of porous microspheres

A new aromatic, tetrafunctional methacrylate monomer, 4,4'-di(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)benzophenone, and its application to the synthesis of porous microspheres are presented. This new monomer was copolymerized with divinylbenzene in the presence of pore-forming diluents. The proper-ties of the obtained highly crosslinked microspheres were investigated as column packing for high-performance liquid chromatography. Their porous structures in both dry and wet states were studied and compared with those of poly(divinylbenzene) and the less crosslinked copolymer of 2,3-epoxypropyl methacrylate and divinylbenzene. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.