Intra- and Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding in Miscible Blends of CO2/Epoxy Cyclohexene Copolymer with Poly(Vinyl Phenol)

In this study, we synthesized a poly(cyclohexene carbonate) (PCHC) through alternative ring-opening copolymerization of CO2 with cyclohexene oxide (CHO) mediated by a binary LZn2OAc2 catalyst at a mild temperature. A two-dimensional Fourier transform infrared (2D FTIR) spectroscopy indicated that strong intramolecular [C-H center dot center dot center dot O=C] hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) occurred in the PCHC copolymer, thereby weakening its intermolecular interactions and making it difficult to form miscible blends with other polymers. Nevertheless, blends of PCHC with poly(vinyl phenol) (PVPh), a strong hydrogen bond donor, were miscible because intermolecular H-bonding formed between the PCHC C=O units and the PVPh OH units, as evidenced through solid state NMR and one-dimensional and 2D FTIR spectroscopic analyses. Because the intermolecular H-bonding in the PCHC/PVPh binary blends were relatively weak, a negative deviation from linearity occurred in the glass transition temperatures (T-g). We measured a single proton spin-lattice relaxation time from solid state NMR spectra recorded in the rotating frame [T-1 rho(H)], indicating full miscibility on the order of 2-3 nm; nevertheless, the relaxation time exhibited a positive deviation from linearity, indicating that the hydrogen bonding interactions were weak, and that the flexibility of the main chain was possibly responsible for the negative deviation in the values of T-g.