Application of the Diels-Alder reaction to polymers bearing furan moieties. 2. Diels-Alder and retro-Diels-Alder reactions involving furan rings in some styrene copolymers

Styrene copolymers containing various amounts of a novel comonomer bearing a pendant furan ring were synthesized and characterized before being submitted to Diels-Alder reactions with either a monomaleimide or a bismaleimide. Spectroscopic evidence, supported by data from model compounds, indicated that the resulting linear and cross-linked products contained extensive percentages of adduct structures formed from the furan moieties. Both types of materials were then heated in a solvent containing a large excess of 2-methylfuran in order to induce the retro-Diels-Alder and the coupling of the released maleimides with the furanic additive. The reaction proceeded as expected and the original copolymers could be recovered from the treatment. The interest in the general strategy reported here resides in the possibility of recycling cross-linked polymers by a simple thermal treatment conducted in the presence of a suitable trap.