Abstract
The synthesis and radical co- and terpolymerizations ofa-trifluoromethylstyrene (TFMST)with various fluorinated and hydrogenated comonomers are presented. The selectedfluorinated comonomers were: vinylidene fluoride (VDF), chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE),3,3,3-trifluoropropene (TFP), 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-1-decyl vinyl ether (FAVE-8), whilethe hydrogenated one was ethyl vinyl ether (EVE). Though the homopolymerization andmost copolymerizations of TFMST failed, the radical terpolymerization of TFMST withVDF and CTFE led to successful reaction in ca. 40–80% yield, when the TFMST feed waslower than 9 mol%. The resulting terpolymers were characterized by 1H and 19F NMR spectroscopy that enabled to assess the molar percentages of the three comonomer units and revealed VDF-TFMST and CTFE-TFMST dyads besides expected VDF-VDF, VDF-CTFE,CTFE-CTFE dyads, and various triads composed of these monomers. Molecular weightswere in the range of 2000–5000 g mol1 indicating that oligomers were obtained. TGAunder air indicated thatpoly(CTFE-ter-VDF-ter-TFMST) terpolymers do not degrade below150C, while DSC experiments confirmed the terpolymer structure as only a single glasstransition temperature at about 35 C.