Sabic Global Technologies B.v.

Stephan Moyses

Hua Guo

Eylem Tarkin-Tas

Alvaro Carrillo

Scott Michael Fisher

Dejin Li

Jianhua Xu

Chester Hassman

The present invention relates to a process for the production of copolymers comprising: (i) forming a reaction mixture comprising an elastomer and a vinyl aromatic compound; (ii) introducing the reaction mixture to a reaction vessel; and (iii) performing a polymerisation reaction wherein steps (i)-(iii) are performed in that order to obtain a copolymer comprising: (a) a phase comprising a reaction product of the elastomer with the vinyl aromatic compound; and (b) a phase comprising a reaction product of the vinyl aromatic compound wherein a sample of the reactor contents is obtained during step (iii) to determine of the formed copolymer: the content of phase (b); and/or &#x25cf; the molecular weight of phase (b) wherein the determination of the content of phase (b) in the formed copolymer and the molecular weight of phase (b) is performed by a method comprising isolation of phase (b) from the sample of the formed copolymer and subjecting the obtained phase (b) to molecular analysis. Such process allows for the determination of the content of the phase (b) and of the molecular weight thereof in a quick and efficient manner, allowing for adjustment of process parameters such that the production of products that not correspond to the desired product quality is minimised.

Process for the production of copolymers

A poly(phenylene ether) copolymer comprises about 5 to 40 mole percent repeat units derived from 2-phenylphenol and 60 to about 95 mole percent repeat units derived from 2,6-dimethylphenol, wherein the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer has a weight average molecular weight of at least 8,000 atomic mass units, as measured by gel permeation chromatography. A method of preparing the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer, comprises oxidatively copolymerizing a monomer mixture comprising about 5 to 40 mole percent 2-phenylphenol and about 60 to about 95 mole percent 2,6-dimethylphenol in the presence of a solvent, molecular oxygen, and a polymerization catalyst comprising a metal ion and at least one amine ligand to form a solution of the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer in the solvent, wherein a ratio of total moles of 2-phenylphenol and 2,6-dimethylphenol to moles of metal ion is about 10:1 to about 1200:1.

Poly(phenylene ether) copolymer and method of making

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Albany, NY, United States of America

Stephan Moyses