Medical University of South Carolina

Liang Yuan

Chuanbing Tang

Meghan Lamm

Zhongkai Wang

Monomer compounds and methods of synthesizing monomer compounds are disclosed. The monomer compounds can include maleate and maleimide monomers having fatty acid moieties. The monomer compounds can be derived from renewable sources such as corn, soybean, and sunflower oils. The monomer compounds can be formed into homopolymers as well as copolymers. The copolymers can include petroleum-derived monomers such as styrene, ethylene, and propylene.

Preparation of maleate and maleimide monomers and polymeric materials from triglycerides

A method i for forming an epoxidized polymer is provided. The method may include mixing an epoxidized plant oil with a synthetic epoxy resin and crosslinking the epoxidized plant oil and the synthetic epoxy resin using a curing agent. The epoxidized plant oil may be formed via: converting plant oil triglycerides to fatty amide alcohols via aminolysis using primary or secondary amines, converting the fatty amide alcohols to epoxidized fatty amide alcohols, and reacting the epoxidized fatty amide alcohols with vinyl monomers to obtain epoxidized plant oil monomers.

Preparation of thermoplastic epoxidized polymers and thermosetting materials from triglycerides

Methods for forming a compound from a plant oil compound having a carboxylic acid group attached to an organic group are provided. The method can include performing an aminolysis reaction between the plant oil compound and a hydroxyl-containing amine compound to form a functionalized plant oil compound having an amide bond; and functionalizing the hydroxyl group to have a polyerizable vinyl group or a norbornene group to form a polyerizable plant oil compound having the amide bond and an ester bond.

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Columbia, SC, United States of America

Liang Yuan