Synthesis and Physicochemical Properties of Hypercrosslinked Polysterene Restricted-Access Materials

With a view to simplifying and reducing the cost of the synthesis of novel selective restricted-access materials based on microporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene for solid-phase extraction, various polystyrene crosslinking agents and Friedel-Crafts catalysts in various combinations have been studied. It has been found that the most effective crosslinking agent is monochlorodimethyl ether; in addition, expensive tin chloride has been effectively replaced with a smaller amount of cheap ferric chloride. Under special conditions for the suspension copolymerization of styrene with 1, 2, and 3% of divinylbenzene, copolymers with a bead size of 30-70 m have been synthesized. Each of the copolymers has been further crosslinked with monochlorodimethyl ether to a degree of crosslinking of 100, 150, and 200%. These polymers are porous materials swellable in water and any organic solvents. The hypercrosslinked polymer network is not accessible to large molecules of proteins (Cytochrome C and albumin) and does not cause protein adsorption; owing to this feature, the sorbents can be classified as novel selective restricted-access materials.