Synthesis and radical polymerisation of methacrylic monomers with crown ethers or their dipodal counterparts in the pendant structure

The synthesis and radical polymerisation of methacrylic monomers with benzo-12-crown-4, benzo-15-crown-5, benzo-18-crown-6, and their dipodal counterparts in the ester residue is described. The radical polymerisation of the monomers in solution was carried out at different temperatures, and the polymerisation kinetics curves were obtained by direct measurement of the instantaneous monomer concentrations by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Thus, the polymerisation rate parameter (2fk(p)/(k(t))(1/2)), along with the polymer stereoregularity, were obtained in terms of the molar fractions of meso and racemo diads and of syndiotactic, isotactic and heterotactic triads. The interaction of the polymers with cations was studied using polymer networks as solid phases in the solid-liquid extraction of lanthanide cations from both organic and aqueous media. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.