CA1070045A - Process for the preparation of graft copolymers - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Process for the preparation of thermoplastic graft copolymers which comprises heating for about 15 seconds to 60 minutes, with mizing, a trunk copolymer of at least two monomers, at least one of said monomers pro-viding amine-reactive sites taken from the group consist-ing of the anhydride group, e.g., maleic anhydride; a vicinal pair of carboxylic groups and a carboxylic acid adjacent to an alkoxycarbonyl group, wherein the alkoxy group contains up to 20 carbon atoms, and at least one of said monomers containing no amine-reactive sites, and at least one side chain polymer having per chain one active amine site taken from the group consisting of primary and secondary amines, the remainder of said side chain polymer being substantially unreactive with the reactive sites, e.g., amino-substituted polycaprolactam, poly-laurolactam, polyethylene oxide, ect., of the trunk co-polymer. The process provides control of the type and length of the side chain polymer grafted onto the trunk copolymer. Plastic graft copolymers are included, specifically those containing one or more side chain polymer types with the proviso that when only one type side chain polymer is present the side chain polymer contains only one nitrogen atom. said atom being found in the active amine site.

Description

1(~7V0~5 ~e~L~
Field of the Invention This invention relates to a process for the preparation of ~hermoplastic graft copolymers and particularly a process wherein the graft copolymers are formed by reacting a trunk copolymer having reactive sites ~ith a side chain polymer having an amine group - reactive with the sitesO This invention also relates to graft copolymers~
Descri tion of the Prior Art Many grafting processes are described in the prior ark~ Generally~ the ~erm "to graft onto" relates to a two step process whereby a polymerizable monomer is first blended with a polymer and then the monomer is ~polymerized~ eOgc~ by free radical or ionic graft . polymerization, in the presenc~ of the polymerO In the con~entional process khis term "to gra~t onto" means a process in which the side chain polymer is grown in the presence of the dead or preformed polymer. In the con-ventional grafting process~ electron irradiationp peroxidetreatment~ etcO are used to activate sites on the polymer chain for subsequen~ polymerization of the monomer and attachment to the sites. Typical of prior art relating such conventional grafting processes include U. S0 Patents 3~136~73~; 3~3~pl~6; 3~465jo59; 3p676~190 and Belgian Patents 7~0~964; 7~09965 and 7~0p9660 U~ S~
Patent 39136,73~ describes the grafting onto a vinyl bac~bone copolymer in khe presence of ca~alys~s a capro~
lactam. The polycaprolactam is grot~n as a side chain onto ~he backbone polymer ak the active sites~ U~ S
., .,. ~

~. .

Patents 3,3~,1g6 and 3,~65?o59 describe graft copolymers having backbone chains containing recurrlng ethylenic units and side chains containing carboxr--te~ninated pol-yamide groups, the graft copolymers b~ing formed by hydrolytically polymerizing in the melt a polyamide precursor such as caprolactam or laurolactam in the presence of a preformed ethylene/acrylic acid 9 salt or ester copolymer. U~ S. Patent 3~6769190 discloses various type backbone polymers, preferably vinyl-type and vinylidene-type polymers and copolymers subjected to the action 4f ozone and onto 'the polymer is grafted at least one poly~erizable ethylenical].y unsatura~ed monomer.
The Belgian patents teach that random copolymers of ~thylene and minor amount5 of maleic anhydride can be reacted with alcohols and amines; for example, a poly-ethanol amine. These Belgian paten~s~ howeverg describe bridged or crosslinl~ed pol'ymers where the b'ridging agents contain two or more reactive sites.
U. S0 Patent 3,676,400 relates to blends of high-amine-end polyamides with acidic olefin copolymers~
The olerin copolymers can be derived from ethylene and monoethylenically a,~-unsaturated monocarboxylic or di-carboxylic acids such as acrylic, me-~hacrylic9 m~leic~
~umaric acids, e~cD Each polyamide molecule has on the average more ~han one ac~ive amine site which.can react with the reacti.ve si~es of '~he '~runk copolymer if such reactive sites are present~ The 'reac-tion product contains crosslinks which are no~ desired in 'the graft'copolymers of the prese.nt invention.
None Or the pr-io'r a-'rt suggests graf'tin~ onto a ~; .

~7~5 trunk copolymer a preformed side chain polymer having one amine group active with sites on the trunk copolymer to pro-duce a thermoplastic or soluble polymer.
The value of the present invent,on can be more fully understood when graft copolymers having two different types of side chains are prepared. If conventional prior art techniques are used~ either copolymer side chains are obtained from mixed comonomers or when the monomers are used to form a graft copolymer in two steps either the ac~ive sites on the trunk copolymer are blocked by the first monomer or many side chains are formed containing grafts of the second monomer on the chains previously ~ormed ~rom the first monomer. In contrast~ by the process described below, two or more types of side chain polymers may be grafted onto a trunk copol~mer simply by mixing the pre-formed polymer side chains at the time the grafting reaction occurs.
~ ' .
According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a process for the preparation of thermoplastic graft copolymers ~hich comprises heating f`or about 15 sec-onds to 60 minutes, with mixing, (1) a trunlc copolymer Or at least t~o monomers, at least one of said rnonomers pro-~iding amine reactive sites taken ~rom the group consist-ing of an anhydride group, a vicinal pair of carboxylic groups and a carboxylic group adjacent -to an alkoxycar-bonyl group, ~Jherein the alkoxy group contains up to 20 ~carbon atoms~ and at least one of said monomers contain-~ing no ~nine-reactive sites9 and (2~ at least one side chain poly~ner having per chain one active amine site ~4-taken from the group consisting of primary and secondary amines, the remainder of said side chain polymer being substantially unxeactive with the reactive sites of the trunlc copolymer. The graft copolymer produced is thermoplastic and is not crosslinked~
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a thermoplastic graft copolymer consistin~
essentially of a trunk copolymer derived from at least two monomers~ at least one of said monomers providing amine-reactive si~es taken from the group consisting OI
an anhydride group, a vicinal pair of carboxyli.c groups and a carboxylic group adjacent to an alkoxycarbonyl group, ~herein the alkoxy group contains up to 20 carbon atoms, and at least one of said monomers coNtaining no amine-reactive sites, and at least one type side chain polymer linked to said reactive sites through amide or imide linkages, said side chain pol~ner being derived from a short chain polymer having from about 5 to 50 repeat units and containing one active amine site selected from the group consisting of primary and secondary amines, the remainder of the side chain polymer being substantially un reactive with the amine-reactive sites of the trunk .copolymer9 with the proviso that when only one type of side chain polymer is present the side chain polymer contains only one nitrogen atom9 s~id atom being found in ~he active amine siteO
The term "trunk copolymer!' as employed herein includes the polymerization product of at least. one : ~olymerizable monomer which has no amine-active sites~
e~g~, ethylene~ vinyl monomers such as vinyl acetate, ~5~
, 1(~70~45 styrene9 vinyl chloride; etcc~ and at least one polymeri-zable monomer which provides amine-acti~e sites7 e.g.~
maleic anhydride~ Included in the term is a copolymer having grafted thereon a monomer which provides the amine-active sites, e-g3 9 ethylene/a-mono~olefin/lgl~-hexadiene/
maleic anhydride copolymer~
The term "side chain polymer" as employed here-in includes the polymerization product of a polymerizable monomer which contains one active amine site per chain;
said amine site being subsequently attached to the amine-active sites of the trunk copolymer. The active amine site is generally on one end of the side chain polymer while the other ends or substituent groups of the side chain polymer are substantially unreac-tive with the reactive sites of the trunk copolymer. The e~tent to which there may be more than one reactive sike per chain ; i5 determined by'the degree of crosslinking obtained in a specific case; i~e. 9 the amount of additlonal reactive sites per chain~ over one per chain, must be so small '"~
~hat the graft copolymer is not substantially cross-linked.
By the process of the invention a-t least one side chain polymer type can be attached to the amine reactive sites o~ the trunk copolymerO Two or more different side chain polymer types, however~ can be '' present in the graft copol~ner. Different side chain polymer types refers to at least -~wo side chain polymers9 eOg. 9 polycaprolactam, polylaurolactam~ polye~hylene ~xide, pslypropylene oxide, and other side chain polymers ~' described below which for purposes of this-in~ention are ~6~ ' ~moo4s di~ferent chemical structures. Different side chain polymer types does not refer to a mere difference in molecular welght of a particular side chain pol.~mer type such as polycaprolactam9 etc.
D~TAILED D~SC~IPTION OF THF. INV~NTION
~ _ ___ Thermoplastic graft copolymers a:re prepared in accordance with the process of this invention by reacting a trunlc copoly~er having amine-reactive sites with at least one side chain polymer having abou-t one actiYe amine site of primary or secondary amines; the other groups or ends of the side chain polymer are ~substantially un reactive with the reactive sites on the trunk copolymer.
In the final graft copolymer the trunk copolymer content ranges in ~n amo1mt of about 25 to 95 percent by weight and the side chain polymer content ranges from about 5 to 75 percent by weight. The trunk copolymers contain~ on a number average, about 300 to 50,000, preferably 500 to

2,000, chain atoms, and a number Or branch sites occurringJ
on the average, at a frequency of about one to 200 amine reae~ive sites per 1000 chain atoms of ~he trunk copolymerO
On the average there will be at least one active site per trunk eopolymer chaine The side chain polymer will~ in general, be sho~ter than the trunk copolymer~ ranging in leng~h from about 25 to 1~000 chain atoms9 preferably about ~ 30 to 300 chain atoms~
The trunlc copolymers must be sufficiently stable to wi~hstand heating during the grafting of the side ehain polymerO They. should also be free from hydroxyl, primary amino, and secondar~r ~mino ~roups ~Jhich can react

3 wi~h the amine reactive grafk sites to form ~hermostab:Le --7~

~L~7~ 5 crosslinks causing a loss of the desired thermoplasticity.
The amine-reactive sites on the trunk copolymers are provided by monomers which are-either copolymerized during the preparation of the trunk copoly~ler or are grafted onto a previously existing polymer.
Copolymerization of a monomer providing the amine reactive site ~ith other monomers is possible ~hen the other monomers are ~olymerizable by conventional free radical catalysisO a-olefins (such as ethylene D
propylene~ l~butene; alkyl acrylates and methacrylates (such as methyl~ ethyl and b-~kyl); conjugated dienes ~such as 1~3-butadiene~ isoprene); other dienes (such as l,~-hexadiene);
s~yrene~ methyl vinyl etherD methyl vinyl sulfideJ
acryloni.trile, vinyl acetate9 vinyl chloride, acrylic acid7 methacrylic acid, and the like are ~rell known examples of suitable comonomers~
Free radical polymerizable monomers which can be incorporated i.nto the trunk copolymer to provide ~he amine reactive sites, have the formulae O ' ' .' .
/C O ~ ~
X--C
(a) " O , ~b) W~O-C-C=C-C-OH and \C , ..
"
' ~ .
H ~ O
V--C--C.
(c) I \O ' ......
C

O

. ,. . . . . - . . .

wllere X and Y are independently selected from H9 Cl, Cl-C~ allcyl and phenyl with the pro~iso that one of X and Y must be H and ~ is ~19 cl~clo al~yl9 phenyl~ naphthyl or substituted phenyl or naphthyl where -the substituents are Cl-C10 alkyl~ halogen~ and Cl~C10 alkoxy groups; and V is a radical con-taining C2--C12 alkenyl and having a copolymerizable double bondO
Compounds representative of formula (a) in-clude maleic anhydride and citraconic anhydride. Com-pounds representative of formula (b) include maleic acid9citraconic acid9 fumaric acid~ mesaconic acid, and mono-~esters Or maleic and fumaric acid, including ~he methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, propyl~ butyl, tert-butyl, amyl, isoamyl, hexyl, octyl 9 decyl, phenyl, l-naphthyl~ 2-naphthyl 9 2-methylphenyl, 2-ethylphenyl, 2,5-dimethylphenyl 9 . 4-isopropyIphenyl? ~-butylphenyl~ 3,5-dimethyl-3 propyl phenylp 3-decylphenyl9 4 tetradecylphenyl~ ~-hexadecyl-phenyl, 4 octadecylphenyl~ 2-chlorophenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl~
2-chlororl-naphthyl, ~-chloro-l naphthyl, 6-chloro~l-~0 naphthyl9 7~-dichloro~l-naphthyl, ~bromo-l-naphthyl9 7-ch:Loro~2~naphtyyl, L~-methyl-l-naphthyl~ and l~propyl-2~
naphthyl~ Compounds representative o~ ~ormula (c~ include alkenyl succinic anhydrides~ e.g~ 3-ethenyl succinic anhydride~ 3~ethenyly~-methyl succinic anhydride~ 3~allyl succinic anhydride, 3~isopropenyl succinic anhydrideS
3~2~butenyl) succinic anhydride9 3~ pentenyl) succinic anhydride) etc~ Also useful are itaconic acid, its anhydride and monoesters~
The copol~m~rlzation reaction to form the ~0 trunk copolymer can be car~ied out most advantageously ~c~7~
in a pressure reactor at a temperature of 90 250Co and a pressure of 1600-2200 atm. The polymerization tempera-ture is preferably maintained at about l~S~C~ and the pressure at 1~00-2000 atrn. Usually~ the pol~erization process is continuous~ the monomer~ optionally a solvent such as benzene, and the initiator being introduced at a controlled rate, and the reaction product being con-tinuously remo~ed. A stirred autoclave such as described in U~ SO Patent 2,~97,1~3 to Christl et al. can be used.
Suitable free~radical polymerization initiators include organic peroxides9 for example9 lauryl peroxide9 and di-t-butyl peroxide~ peresters, such as t-butyl per acetate and t-butyl peroxypi~late; and azo compounds9 such as azobisisobutyroni~rileO
A representative trunk copolymer i5 a random co polymer having a melt index of about 0.3 to 100 grams/10 min. and consisting essentially of polymeri~ed ethylene, ; an alkyl acrylate selected from methyl and ethyl acrylate~
- and from 0.~025-0.077 mole/100 grams of polymer of a monoalkyl ester of a 1~4-butene dioic acid in ~rhich the allcyl ~roup of the ester has 1 to 6 carbon atoms9 each 100 grams of copolymer ha~ing from about 0.64~0~0 mole of ~-C02-~ units. Copolymers of ethylcne~ methyl acrylate, and ethyl hydrogen maleate corresponding to the Qbove have composition3 such a3 the following:

"
' .. . . . . .

~7~ 5 Mole ~
Ethyl Hydrogen Eth,yl~ne ~5h~_ _ M eat 71.2 28.7 57.8 42.1 0,.1 74.4 22.0 3,.6 61.4 3~ ,.2 ~nother representative trunk copo~ner is an alternating copolymer havi ng repeating units con~istlng eæsentially o~ -A-B- where B represents ethylene unlt3 and A represents unlt~ selected ~rom at l~a~t one Cl-C8 alkyl acr~late and an acrylic cure-æite monomer having the formulae (a) or (b) described above. The copolymerization i~ done in solu-tion at -10Co to about 200C. in the pre~ence o~ a ~ree radical initiator and BF3 at pressures sufficient to keep khe BF3 c~mplexed with the alkyl acrylate (generally 00703 to 703 kg./sqa cm. gauge), ~uch a proce~ being disclosed by Logotheti~
in Canadia~ Patent 1,019,985, is~ued October 25, 1977.
An ~mportant Slass o~ copolymers which cannot be made with free radical catalysts include EPDM rubber~
mese copolymers are prepared by u~ing the well known Zlegler or coordination cataly~t~ which are combination~
o~ transition ~eta} compound3 (u~ually vanadlum or tlt~nium c~mpound~ ~uch as VOC13, VCl~, vanadium tris~
acetylacetonate~ and titanium te-trachloride~ and Group I~III organometallic r0ducin~ agents (auch as a ~ 1- -alum~um chlorides and brGmide~, lithium aluminum tetra- :
alkylæ~ aluminum trlalk~ls). EPDM rubber i~ made by co-polymerizin~ ethylene and propylene with at leas-t one non-con~ugated hydrocarbon diene, e~g., 1,4-hexadie!ne~
5~propenyl-2-norborn~ne, 5-et~ylldene-2-norbo:rnene~
' . :` `. ~11-- ~ ~ ~

~7~45 5-methylene-2-norbornene, dicyclopentadiene as describecl in Gresham and ~lunt U. S. Patent 2,933~0; Tarney U~ SO
Patent 3~000,~66; Gladding U. S. Patent 3,093,620;
Gladding and Robinson U. SL Patent 37093,621; Adamek, Dudley and Woodhams U. S. Patent 3,211,709; and Nyce U~ S. Patent 3,1519173. One of the double bonds is usually substanti.ally less reactive than the other; in-corporation of the diene then leads to a monomer unit : having the less reactive double bond in the side chain~
After the copolymer has been formed9 single monomer units such as those described above in formulae (a) and (b) which ha~e amine reactive sites can be grafted to the EPDM
by thermal addition to the unsaturated side chalns. A
typical trunk copol~mer can be represented by khe following ~ormula which illustrates the case of the addition of a single maleic anhydride group on an ethylene/~-mono~
olefin/1~4-hexadiene copolymer H H
, ~ C~C ~
H CH ~ O

H-C -CH -C

wherein the ~avy lines represent the polymer chain.
This st~ucture càn be achieved ~y reacting maleic anhydri~e with the ethylene/a-monoolefin/1,4~11exadiene co-polymer. The hydrocarbon copolymer may also include small amounts of units o~ a direactive non-conjugated diene as in the ethylene/propylene/19~hexadiene/2,5 norbornadiene copolymer~ as well as other copolymers descri.bed iIl Campbe:l.l . ' , -12~-and Thurn U.S. Patent 3,819,591.
Propylene is normally selected as the d-monoolefin in preparing side chain lmsatura-tecl elastomeric ethylene copolymers because of its availability and low cost. Higher ~-monoolefins (Cl~-C18) are usef~ also;
l-butene, l-hexene3 and l-dodecene are examples. The ~-monoole~ins may be omitted completely, making an ethylene/
hexadiene copolymer.
The graft addition of amine reactive monomers described above, e.g., maleic anhydride and ethyl hydrogen maleate, is conveniently accomplished by heating a blend of the copolymer and amine reactive monomer within a range of a~out 225-400C., above -the mel-ting point of the trunk copolymer and side chain polymer. A process of this type is described in detail in Caywood Canadian Patent No.
1 032 688~ issued June 6~ 1978. Internal mixers or extruders are suitable. Exposure to maleic anhydride vapor should be minimized on account of its toxicity and potential for causing severe eye damage. Unreacted maleic anhydride can be removed from the graft product by aqueous extraction or by dissolution in hexane~ a nonsolvent for maleic anhydride.
In preparing the trunk copolymer, for example~
ethylene and ethylenic monomers having carboxylic functionality may be copolymerized~ the comonomers being randomly interconnected through C-C lir~ages and com~
prising 70-99 percent by weight of e-thylene~ The carboxylic functiorlality is taken from the group consist-ing of the anhydride grou~ a vicinal pair of carboxylic groups and a carboxylic group adjacent to an alkoxycarbon~l group, wherein the alkoxy group has up to 20 carbon atoms~
Examples of specific trunk copolymers are: ethylene/

~7~ 5 maleic anhydride, ethylene/(lower monoalkyl Clto C~) maleate9 ethyl~ne/(lower monoallcyl Cl to Cl) fumarat~, ethylene/(lower monoalkyl Cl to Cl) itaconate, ethyl acrylate/maleic anhydride, ethyl acrylate/monoe-thyl fumarate, styrene/maleic anhydride9 styrene/monoallcyl (Cl to C~) maleate9 styrene/monoalkyl (Cl to C~) itacona-te~
alkyl ~inyl ether/maleic anhydride~ vinyl chloride/maleic anhydride, and others containing three and four components, eDg~ alternating ethylene/ethyl acrylate/allyl acrylate/
maleic anhydride~ alternating ethylene/ethyl acrylate/
ethylene diacrylate/maleic anhydrideg ethylene/maleic ~'"
anhydride/3-methyl butene or vinyl acetate, ethylene/vinyl monomer/monoethyl maleate or monoethyl fumarate, ethyl acrylate~ utyl acrylate/monoethyl fumarate~ ~inyl chloride/
vinyl acetate/maleic anhydride~ etc.
The side chain polymers linked to the reacti~e sites can be of the same kind or of differen5 types of polymers set forth below. The side chain polymers are short chains having abou-t 5 to 50 repeat units~ ~k least ~0 percent of the side chain polymers have one reactive eNd group of primary or secondary amines, preferab].y primary amine, and the other ends or substituent ~roups are sub-stantially unreactive, e.g~9 alky'l containing 1 to 1 carbon atoms9 amide~ aryl7 carboxylic ~cid, etcO ~xamples of side chain polymers that can be linked to the reactive sites include: (13 polymers of lactams containing 3 to 12 carbon ~oms~ e~g~ polycaprolac~am~ polylaurolactam9' 'o'the:r lactams such as those made from ~alanine ~nylon 3) :from ~aminobu~ric acid (nylo~ 4)~ ~-aminovaleric acid 3 ~iiyi~n ~ and ~imilar polyamides from ~-amino acids con-'~ai'-ni'-ng 7g ~ 10 or 11 carbon atoms (anthranilic acid ~9 ~37~ S
is ~lso useful~ (2~ copolymers of said lactams con-tai.~ing 3 to 1~ carbon atoms~ ezg.~ copolymers of caprolactam a.nd laurolactam as well as the other lactams clescribed above 9 (3) polymers o~ organic oxides containing ~> to l~i carbon atoms~ e.gO, ethylene oxideg propylene oxide~ 1,2 butylene epoxideD 1~4-butylene epoxideg st;yrene oxide, 1,2 diphenyl ethylene oxidej dioxolane; (~ copolymers of said organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms; (5) pc,lymers of strrene; (6~ polymers of substituted styrenes (one to ~ carbon atoms); (7) copolymers of s~yrene and substi~
tuted styrenes~ (~) polymers of acrylates; (9) polymers Or methacrylates; (10) copolymers of a.crylates and methacrylates; and (11) polymers of lactones~
The gra~t copolymers of khis invention~ for exampl~
may be represented as Vk~Yl ~ YnZp ~Jhere V represents the dominant monomer, I.I the modifying monomer for the trunk copolymer, X the monomer containin~ the reactive sites, ~ the repeat unit used in one type of side chain, and Z the repeat unit used in another type of side chain.
The graft copoly~er can be produccd by a three step process in which a) Vk.~l ~ is produced, b) Yn ancl.tor Zp is produced, and c) the product VkWlXmYn or Vk~lXmYn~p is produced by. a simple molten phase or solution reac~ionc :
When the value of subscript k is greater than the ~alue of subscript 1~ the ~onomer V is viewed as the do~
mina~t monomer~ The value of subscript 1~ in fac~S may be zeroO
W is considered ~o be sufficiently general ~o include one .
or more modifyin~ monomers~ X is the monomer which pro-vides the reac~i~e site. Y represents t}~e monomer rrom .
~.
~15-~ .

~ 7~4 which the si.de chai.n pol~ller is produced and this may be a copol~er as well as a homopolymer. Yn contains one primary or secondary ~nine group~ generally on one endO
At least ~0 percent of the-moleculesD Yn, contain one amine group. Substantially none of the molecules ~n .
contain more than one amine group7 or other groups which are reactive with the reactive site associated with the ~onomer9 X, slnce the melt reaction would then produce a crosslinked product.
In an i~portant embodi~ent the process can be used to prepare graft copolymers represented by the formula: V~YmZp~ wherein V represents e-thylene, e~hyl acrylate, styrene, etc~; X represents a func~ional ethylenic compound; e3gO, maleic anhydride9 mono(lower alkyl Cl to CL~) maleate~ fumarate and itaconate; Vk and are randomly interco~nected through C-C linkages; Z-rep~esents a poIyamide side chain of the formula:
o 0 ~1 ~ " "
. ~ N(CH2)rG~NI-l~CH2)rG~p-lN \
. R~
.
Zp is attached to X through an amide or imlde group link-age; Rl is hydrogen or Cl to Clg alkyl; R2 is Cl to Clg alkyl~ aralkyl, eOg~ ben~yl; aryl, e~g~ 9 phenyl; or Rl and R2.taken together constitute a 5 or 6-mernbered rlng;
k9 m, p and r are integers (though analytical data may give average frac~ional values for k~ m, and p); the ra~io . Or k:m is in the range of 4:1 to 200:1 and in such .:
additional relationship that the ~ieight ratio of V~:~m is in the range of 99:1 to 70~3~; r is 3 to 11, preferably 5 or ll; and p is in the range of about '.

~lG-~ ~ .
.

~ ~7~

to about 299 pr~ferably 5 to 9~ The value of r defines the t,ype of polyamide used.
The subscripts k and m in the above formula represent the number of respective ethylenic, acrylic or styrene mono~er units and the number of rlonomer units which provide the acti~e site, e.g~, maleic anhydride, in the trunk copolymer. It is apparent that no more thaIl one polyamide se~ment is attached to any X site9 but not e~ery X-site need have a Y side chainO
~hen a polyamide is used as the side chain polymer the amount by weigh~ of the polyamide component depends on several fac~ors9 eO~., frequency of attachment of side chains~ number of units per side chain and molecular weight per unitO The proportion of polycapro-lactam is generally in the range of 20 to 75 percent by wei~ht o~ the graft copol~er9 preferably 33 to ~0 percent by weight; the proportion of polylaurolactam is generally in the range of 15 to 60 percent by weight, preferably 15 to 35 percent by weightO
Preferably the preformed side chain polyamides .
ar~ derived ~ro~ oligomeric polycaprolactan or poly--la~rolacta~.~ or copolymers of these lac~ams. These oli~omeric polylactams have one reac~lve primary amino - end group and one nonreactive end group~ They are prepared by reacting the lactam with an amine~ cor-responding to RlNHR2~ ~rhere Rl and R2 are H, Cl to C1~
alkyl~-ben~yl and C5 to C6 cycloalkyl with ~he proviso that Rl and R2 are not both H and Rl and R~, when taken ~ogether~ constitute a ring such as in ~4 to C5 all~ylene or a ring containing a heteroatom as în 3~oxapentylene~

~17~

.- - . - . . .
: .

~ ~7 ~ ~ ~ 5 in an amount designated to produce an oligomer having a predominant average degree o~ polymerization in the range of about 5 to about 60~ preferably 6 to 10~ more preferably 6 to ~. This reaction~ carried out at a temperature in the range from about 250Co to about 300Co can be represented on a theoretically quantitative basis as follows:
C=O ~ R
(CH2)r ¦ ~ HN \ > ~I[NH(cH2~rc~pN \
\ NH R2 R2 R19 R2 7 r and p are as defined aboveO ,!
Optionally, a small amount of water can be add ed as a reaction promoter, in which case a free carboxylic acid end group, in small proportlon corresponding to the amount of water, is produced alternatively to the amido end group. In practice the reaction may not be quanti-tative since the product may contain unreacted lactam and amine~ and a small amount of a mixture of oligomers having degrees of polymerization below 50 Since -the unreacted starting materials and the lower molecular weight oligomers are readily solubleg they may be re--moved by solvent extraction and the remaining oligomeric mixture then used in preparing the graft copolymer~ This ability to control the quality of the side chain polymer is an importa~t attribute of this invention. The average de~ree of polymeri~ation of the residual poly-lactam is determined through analysis by standarcl titration procedures for ~mino end ~roups in terms of equi~alents per weight of s~mple~
The graft copolymers can be prepared in variou~
ways. Con~enient ways clescribed herein can be idenki~

fit3d as (1 ~ the anhydride rcuteS for use wlth ethylene/
maLeic anhydride and other anhydride-containincg trurlk ~opol~me~s~ an~ ~2) the vicinal acid~acid or acid ester route, for use with trunk copolymers having diacid or monQester of YiGinal dicarboxylic acid substituents7 respectively O
The anhydride route~ which is preferred, in-~olves sirnply heating together with mixi.ng the trunk copolymc-r having carboxylic anhydride groups, preferably maleic anhydride9 and the amino oligomer in the molken state, at a temperature in the range 75~250C.7 preferably at about 225C., or in solution at a tempera-ture of 75 100C. or higher. The heating temperatureis above the ~elting point of the trunk copolymer and the reactive polymerO The time of reaction9 which is dependent upon the temperature and rate of mixing 9 can vary from about 15 seconds to 60 minutes in the melt, preferably 1 to 10 minutes, and from 15.seconds to five hours in solution~ pref`erably 1 to 10 minutes. Reaction in the melt, an especially pre~erred procedure, can conveni.ent~ -ly be carried out on a roll mill~ in a me~t extruder, or in interna1. mixers having convoluted rollers, sic~ma blades, etc , uslng a temper~ture that ~rill give short reaction time and as many passes as necessary to insure cornplete reaction. Completeness of reaction can be judged by ~he appearance of the product, good clarity in the mPlt indic~tlng essentially cornplete reaction. Wlth a rol~ mill as the re-dctor~ the backbone copolymer and oligomer can be premixed or mixed durin~ reaction on khe mill, ~nd because of the exposure lt may be desirable to include stabilizi~
.

~19 .

agents such as inhibitors or antioxidants, or to carry out the operation in a protective atmosphere such as nitrogenO
With an extruder as the reactor, premixing ls desirable.
On the basis of IR analysis of the products~ an interpre-tation of the course of the thermal reaction is that it may proceed through initial formation of amic acids ~o ultimate formation of amide or imide linkages between the backbone copolymer and the polyamide side chains, e.g.,:
-C ~ ~ C ~ LC ~ '' ~ ~ O -~ H2N- - ~ L~ ~ NH- J ~ ~C ~ 2 The amount of amino oli~omer used can vary from a stoichio-metrical deficiency to an equivalent amount, depending upon the extent of side chaln substitution desired on the graft copolymer.
The vicinal acid-ester route has in general the operating characteri~tics of the anhydride route, i~e., it can be carried out in solution or in the melt for reaction times similar to those for the anhydride route described above. The graft copo1ymer is believed to be obtained by att~chment of the oligomer-ic polyamide side chain to the backbone copolymer through imide llnkages (with elimination of alcohol) ~hich may be derived through intermedia~e formation of amic acids~ e~g~g ¦ `~ ~ t ~ tc N
~ ROH ~ }1~0 or by prior conversion of the vicinal acid-ester by loss W20 ~

4~

of alcohol to an anhydride and reaction of the lakter with the amino oligomer as described above~ The description ~bov~ of the anhydricle route as 'carried out on a roll mill or in an extruder applies as well to the vicinal acid~
es~er route conducted in the same wayO
The reaction of the amine group with the anhydride is fast~ so that the e~fective ~eaction rate of - polymers containing these groups is limited by other factors such as the rate of mixingO l~hen two polymers are dissolved in solution, separately9 and the two solutions poured togcther~ rapid in~imate mixing is obtained~ The~ ~' reaction can be completed in abou~ 1 minute or less at about 100C~ As the temperature of the solution is in-creased the reaction can be completed in less than 1 minute~ e.g. 9 down to about 15 seconds~
l~en the t~ro polymers are mixed in the melt~
they are generally incompatible before the reaction takes placeO The mixture is one ol two incompatible liquids, and the reaction takes place7 primarily, at the interface. As the reaction progresses~ the melt i-' blend becomes a single phase and -the reaction goes very rapidly'to completion~ even at melt temperatures as low as about lOO~Co Blended mixtures'of the carboxylic backbone copolymers and the a~ino oligomeric polyamides are ~ ~h~racteristically cloudy in the melt prior to co~pletion `' o~ the grafting reaction. me mixtures, in contrast to ' the gra~t copoly~ers, can ~e e~tracted l~ith-suikc~ble -sol~ents to isolate the backbone copolym~rs and the lactam oligomers unchanged ~nd in rel~tively pure state.
The graft copol~mers are identified by ~he chemical re~ction o~ the reactivc site of the trunk co~
. '.
-21- ' ~'i "

,, . . . ... . , :

`' 1~7~

polymer with the reactive am~rle group of the side chain copolymerO This may be demonstrated by showing that the reactive site on the trunk copolymer has becn reacted t~ ~o~ some other chemical enti~y~ In the specific case of the anhydride groupg the reaction ~may be demonstrated by kno~m analytical methods~
For example~ the progress of grafting can be followed by infrared spectroscopyO When the starting trunk polymer contains 5-membered~ cyclic anhydride I0 active sites, the disappearance of either one or two characteristic absorption bands at 5.~ microns or at ~ .

5.6 microns indicates that grafting is taking place~
The proportion o~ the anhydride groups in the starting trunk polymer can b~ determine~ by forming a polymer ~film of known thickness and examining the infrared spectrllm of such film. It has been found experimerltally that 0.2~ absorption units/0.025 mm at 5.4 microns or 202 absorption units/0.025 mm at 506 microns correspond to 10 weight percent anhydride. The absorption units are read directly from an infrared spectrogram.
Similarly, when the starting trunk copolymer contains vicinal carboxyl and alkoxycarbonyl groups, ; the characteristic infrared absorption band lies at 5.~ microns, Assuming the vicinal carboxyl and al~oxy-carbonyl groups to be derived from e~hyl hydrogen maleate; the characteristic absorption will be 1~1 absorption units/0~025 mm for every lO weight percent maleate present. Such analytical t,echniques would not be practical in the case of a~startin~, copolymer con~ainin~
vicinal carboxyl groups. - However, the concentration of carboxyl groups can be readily dcte~rmine~ by simpl~
~itra~ion~
-~2-~7~ 5 T}le graft copolymer product can be characteri~ed by several techniques) which show the presence of poly-amide slde chains, the degre~ of polymerization of the polyamide side chains, and the chcmical identity of the pvlyamide, to na~ne a few~ Certain physical character-istics often are also helpful to show that a graft copolymer has been obtained.
The presence of polyamide is sho~rn by infrared absorption at 6~0 microns (amide carbonyl)O Other use-ful wave lengths include 6.~ microns (-NH bending) and . .
3~0 microns (-NH stretching). The proportion of poly-amide is determined by l~jeldahl analysis for percenk N.
The polyamide can be chemically identified by heating a sample of a gra~t copolymer with a mineral acid~
~or example, suIfuric or hydrochloric acids, to about 200C.~or more. Under these conditions, the polyamide chain degrades to the starting lactam. Since ~-caprolactam and ~-laurolactam are volatilep they can be isolated and identified by any convenient technique Of qualitative analysis.
Direct measurement of graft efficiency by extraction of unbound polyamide is difficult since solvents for polyamides also attack graft ~opolymers and moS~ trunk copol~ners as well~ Titration of the graft co~
polymer for reactive ~unctionality prQvides no more than rough estimates of gra~t efficie~cy~
Detertnination of the increase of molecul~r - ~
weight due to grafting is a convenient technique. This -is usllally d~ne by ~el permeation chromatograp?ly o~
3 -5 percent graft copolymer solutions in m-cresol at lOO~C. on porous polys~yrcne-packed columns ~
. -~ :
~23-7~

.

A ~ood indication that grafti.ng has taken place is the torsion modulus of the product, especl.ally at 100-150C. I~ile the grafted copolymer will have a ~airly h.igh rnodulus (e~g., 107~10g dynes/sq~ cm. 9 ungrarted material wi.ll flow in that temperature rangeO
The ~raft copolymers are identified as such, rather than mere mixtures of the trunk copolymers and polymers of the side chain type by a variety of tests.
These include clarity of the melt9 solubility properties, and in some cases, by their retention of elastic modulus at elevated temperature~. Blends of two polymers or ~f .a polymer and an oligomer are general.ly not compatible;
molten blends consist, in general, of t~o-immiscible phases. Such t~o phase systems are hazy because of the refractive index di~ference between the two types of polymers. I~lhen such a system -changes from opaque o~ -hazy to a clear product9 it is strong evidence that an ;j intimately joined graft polymer has been produced~ The same optical test can be applied to samples in film ~orm :~ -in the solid state at roorn temperature. Another ~ell-known method for discriminating between a blend and a graft depends upon different solubility of the types of ~:
polymers involved. A third method is.based OXl the very reason ror making certain types of graft copolymers9 i~e~
the retention of physical properties at elevated tempera- .
~i~ tures. For these ~ypesg the blend will tend -to lose its .
~tiffness and ~o flow as the temperature is increased; ;~ ~
.... ..
a gr~ft copol~ner will better retain its stlffness and show less creep as the temperature is increaseda ~0 Kno~ing the average de~rce of pol~lerlzation (DP) of each startin~ side c3lain polymcr~ it is possible to plot .
~24~

. ..
, . .
.

~7~
DP versus the peak melting point of each resulting graft copolymer, as de-termined wlth a differential scannlng calorimeter (DSC). It has been observed that the peak melting point increases as the DP of the side chains lncreases. Such a plot can serve as a calibration curve which can be used ~or -the determination of the DP
o~ the grafts ~n the copolymers of the present invention.
The graft copolymers must be condi~ioned for testing by first heating to 250C.g then cooling at the rate o~ 10~C. per minute to 50C. During the te~t~ the sample is heated at the rate of 10~C. per minute. ~ -DSC techni~ues are discussed in Thermoanalyti-cal Methods o~ Investigation~ b~ P.D. Garn, Ac~demic Press, New York~ 1965.
Another convenient and somewhat related techni~ue for correlating the DP o~ the grafted polymer side chain with its melting point is differential ..
thermal ~nalysis ~DTA). The sample also must be pre-conditioned and is heated during the test at the rate of 20C. per minute. The details o~ the DTA technique are described in Di~ferential Thermal Analysls, R~Co MacKenzie, Editor, Academic Press, New York, 1970, especially in Chapter 23, by C'.B. Murphy, dealing ~lth :
polymers, Vol. I, pp. 643-671.
The process provldes control of the type and - length o~ the polymer side chain grafted onto the trunk . .
copolymer. ~rom the specific typè of trunk copolymer the average frequency of possible reactive graft sites can ;;
be readiIy dete~mined by the fraction~ eOg , on a molar 3Q basis, of monomer molecules providing the ~eactive sites which are polymerized into the trunk copol~mer~ Since the polymeric slde ohains are pre~o~med prior to reac~ing .:

- ~5 -,-, "

: . - .

'~7 ~ ~ ~ 5 with reactiie, ~i~c.s o~ the tl~nlc copolymer excellent control of the ~raf't copolymer is achieved. Thus ~here can be prepared a pol~ner side chain having either a narro~ or broad molecular weight distributionO ~he polymer side chains Or vari.ous distributions can be made at various kimes and then grafted at different tilnes~ It is possible to graft two or more different types of poly~er side chains by means of -the process. The thermoplastic graft copoly~er prepared is relatively uncon~aminated with ungrafted side chain polymer ~ihich may be a major problem in conventional free radical gra:.t .
. . polymerization~ .
The advantage of this-process in providing control of the side chain polymers is i.llustrated as ;~
; rOllo~7s: ~or one particular use~ it may be desirabl.e to have the side chain poly~ers of suffi.cient leng~h.so that these side chains can crystallize~ Such a use was --:
describ.ed to provide improved properties at elevated temperaturesO ~or another use a certain type of side 20' chaln may be neededy but it may be impo~tan1 that the side chainis nok long enough to provide a substantial amount of crystallizat,ion at room temperature~ Such.a case is found with`polyethylene oxide.side chains. For such chains, good anti-static behavior is obtained when the chains are mobile~ iOe~ non-crystalline~ ~en..the ~ , .
- si.d~ chains of such a monomer contain more than abo~t ~0 ~hain atoms1 the side chains will crystallize a~ . .
.. . .. . . . . . . . ... . ....
room temperature and lose their good anti~st~tic behaviorO
The ~ra~t copolymers can be prepared with 3 ~ s~lected physical properties ~hich make them userul in ~ ' ' ' .
-~6~ ~ .

, ~ .
:

~ 7~ ~ ~ S

items such as flexible ~ilms ~nd flexible tubing~ The gr~fted produc-ts may have characteristic rctention of modulus at ele~ted temperatures~ a feature which extends the usefulness of films and tubes into temperatures which cause ~ailure of articles made with merely blended mix-tures of polyethylene and polyamides. Useul toughness (impact resistance) at low temperatures can also be achieved. In certain uses9 e.g.~ tubing for automotive ~ ' applications, resistance ~o zinc chloride is most .. . .
desirable. Gra~t copolymers having polylaurolactam side chains have been ound ~specially resistant to æinc , chloride. Another unanticipated property of considerable , ', value is the reduced,water absorption sho~m by the graft copoiymers in comparison with materials such as homopoly~ ~ 'caprolactam (Nylon-6) or blends of Nylon-6 with poly- ' ethylene.
The graft copolymers can be formed into shaped articles. Specifically graft copolymers such as ~hos~ containing side chain polyethylene oxide polymers ~ -20 can be lncorporated into a hydrocarbon polymer, e~g.~ ,', polypropylene~ to provide a high degree of anti-static behavior to polypropylene fiber. Ethylene gra'ft copolymer,s '',' can be blended with relatively lo~r molecular ~leight ~, thermoplastic resins to producc a ho~ melt adhesivcv It ;, ' has been found that the adhesive has greater resistance , ' to ~ailure at elevated tempera~ures than does an adhesive ', base~ on ungrafted ethylene copolymers. By grafting a polymethyl me~hacrylate side chain onto rubbery copolymers '~'-' such as ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers-an impact modifier for a hard polyvinyl chlo~ide rna~rix is provided.

'' .

C~ ~:~ Ir~r~'lo"
The fol.lowlng procedures and e~amples ~rherein th~ percentages and parts are by weight illustrate the in~entionO The temperatures are in degreec; centigrade unless ot,her~ise indicatedD
The determination of physical and/or chemical properties of the sta~ting copolymers was carried out.as follows: .
. (a) Inheren~ viscosity, deciliters per gramV
~as measured at 30C. on a solution of O~l g. of polymer in lO0 ml~ of chloroform.
(b) Neutralization equivalenk was determined by acid~base titratlon using standard aqueous sodium hydrox~d.e, the anhydride being tit,rated as diacid.
: (c) 1~1allace plasticity at 100C. ~ras determined ... . .
according to the following procedure: .
; : The Wallace pla.sticity is a measure of the amount of flo~r or deformation under load of unvulcanized elasbomeric materials. The sample to be tested is sheeted and cut into pellets having a thickness in the range of ~ mm to 7.6 mm ~0.125 to 0~300 inch). The test is done with a Wallace Plastimeter manufactured by H. ~ 1allace and CoO, Ltd., London.
Initially, for a 15 second period~ the test pellet is - . . .
compressed to a thickness of exactly one millimeter and hea~d to 100.C~ Then the test pellet is subjected .
to a lO-kilogram load for exactl~ 15 seconds ?t 100G~
The final thickness of t~e test piece9 expressed in units of O~Ol millimet,er~ is the plasticity.reading~ . .
3 . (d) Melt index was measured at 190C. un~cr a -2~- .

.
.

~ ~ 7~ 0 4 5 2160 ~O load - ASTM Method D 123~73, Condition E or Condition A and then converted to an equivalent value for Condition E~
The degree of polymeriæ~tion (DP) or molecular weight of the starting 6-nylons can be readily determined by end group analysisO The amino end groups are deter-mined by titration with a strong acid, either in the presence of an indicator or by a potentiometric or a conductometric method. Acid end groups are determined by titration with a strong base. These techniques are discussed in _v]on ~ i s, M~ I. Kohan, Editor, pp.
3~ and 105, John ~iley and Sons, New York (1973)~ and in ~ncyclopedia of Pol~mer Sc:ience ancl Technolo~y Vol. lt pp~ 542 and 543, John I~Tiley and Sons, New York (1969).
- Pre aration o~ Trun~ CoDolvmers (Procedures A to IJ) .~ ~, Aa Preparation of Ethylene~ekhyl Acrylate/I5Onoe-thyl Maleate Copolymer -~
A terpolymer containing 46.4 percent ethylene~
20 50 percent methyl acrylate~ and 306 weight percent mono-ekhyl maleate and displaying a melt index o~ 3~6 g./10 min. '~d~
was prepared in a 0.72-liter stirred autocl~ve~
A mixture of mekh~1 acrylate~ monoethyl malea-te~
and benzene (weight ratio: 6~o2~/2~46/~9~26) was pressured to about 422 kgO/sq. cm.; ethylene was separately pressured to about 42~ kg./sq. cmO Separate streams of this mixture (0.91 kg~/hr~) and cthylene (6.35 kg~/hr.) ; were iolned and pressuxed to 1900 kg./sq. cm~ The resul~ing ~eed stre~m then entered the autocl~ve. Simul-tansously~ a catalyst solution? made by adding 50 ml~ o~
tert~butyl peroxypivalate to 4~5 kg. of benzene Wa6 intro-duced at the rate of 0~0020~ kg./hr. to keep the tempera~
~29 ,, , : ., .. .. . ..

70 ~ ~ 5 ture ~t 170C. The e~fluent from the autoclave passed through a Let-do~m valve to ~ chamber at aitmospheric pressure where most of the residual monomers and solvent flashed of~. The ethylene/methyl acrylate/morloethyl malcate terpolymer thus isolated ~ras freed from the small amount of residual volatiles by heating for 16 hours at ~ooa~ in a nitrogen stream. Acid-base titration indicated tha^t 0.25 meq. of acid groups ~as present per gram of ter-polymerO This corresponds to 3~6 weight percent of mono ethyl ester of maleic acidO
B. Preparation of Ethylene/Vinyl Acetate/~leic Anhydride 3`~`;
Copol~ner - A terpol~ner containing 60.3 percent ekhyleIle~ -3~ weighk percenk vinyl acekate~ and 1.7 percent m~leic anhydride~ and displaying a melt index of 220 g./10 minO
wa~ prepared ak khe rate of oO6~ 1~g.~hr. in a co~tinuous Or 72-liter stirred autoclave by the follo~Jing prosedure.
Monorners were mixedS pressured to-l900 kg./sq. cmcp and fed ak these rates:
Ekhylene 4.54 kg./hr~
Vinyl Acetake 2.29 kg~/hrO
Maleic Anhydride 0.015 kg./hr.
.. . . .
A solution of azobis(isobutyronitrile) in benzene was simultaneousl~ introduced at a rate sufficienk to keep khe reac~or temper~ture at 170C. (about 0.5~7 g~/hr.
corr~spon~ing to Oog6 kg. catalysk per 1000 ~g. of ~er-polymer)0 The tot~il benzene feed ~ras 1004 kg./hr~ Thè
terpolymer produced was isol~ked by a procedure similar ~` to khat described in Procedure A9 The weight percent of maleic anh~dride was 1.7.
~ ~ ' ',' ' , ' ' -.

_ .
, ( ~ 7~ 0 ~ 5 C0 Pr~paratiorI of Eth~rlene/Vinyl Acetate/~leic Anhydride Copolymer A terpolymer containing 65.6 percent ethylene, 32 percent vinyl acetate, and 2~4 percent maleic anhydride~
and displaying a melt index of 125 g~/10 minO ~as prepared at the rate of oJ63 Icg~/hr. in a continuous 0072-liter stirred autoclave by the following procedure~ Monomers were mixed, pressured to 1~00 kg./sqO cm~ and fed at these rates:
- Ethylene 4~54 kg~/hr.
- Vinyl Acetate 1.~0 kg~/hr.
~ leic Anhydride 0.025~ kg./hr.
~ solution of azobis(isobutyronitrile) in benzene was introduced into the reactor at the same ti~e and at a rate sur~icien~ to iceep the reactor temperature at 170C. (about - l~00-gO/hr~ corresponding to 1~5~ kg~/i000 kg. of ter-pol~ner)0 The total benzene feed rate ~as 0.67 k~r/hr~
~The terpolymer produced was isolated by a procedure similar to that described in Proccdure A. Acid~base titration with standard aqueous sodium hydroxide indicated that 0.49 meq. of diacid derived from anhydride groups ~as present per gram of terpolymer. The weight percent of .
I maleic anhydride was 2.4.
D Preparation of Ethylene/Ethyl Acrylate/Allyl (1) AcrylateJMaleic Anhydride Tetrapolymer A 7~57~1iter stirred autoclave ~as charge~ under ni~rogen with L~000 mlO of metIlylene chloride9 l~00 ~rams of ethyl acrylate~ 20 grams of maleic a~lydride~ 1~2 ~rams of allyl acrylate~ and 1.0 gram of azobis(isobu~yronitrile)~
.30 It was then sealed, char~ed ~Iith 300 ~rar.ls ol boron tri-.

:'`.
I _31-,~ ,. . .
', ,.' ' ~ `' ' ' ' ~ ' ', ' ' '' ' ' ,',',, ' ~ '' ' ' ` ' ' ,' ' '', ' ` ' ' -' ~ ~ 7~ ~ ~ S

fluoricie9 and pr~ssured to 21 kg./sqO cm~ with ethyleneO The -subsoquent copol~nerization at 25C. was continued until pressure measurement indicated that ethylene uptake had ceased ~about two hours later)~ The reaction was quenched by adclition of one liter of diethyl etherO Volatiles were removed by steam-stripping in a well-ventil~ted hoodO
The terpolymer thereby obtained ~as dissol~ed in acetone, precipitated in water in a blender~ and oven-dried.
~ield: 415 grams.
This product had about 50 mole percent ethylene units and was slightly branc~ed because of the use of the direactive allyl ~crylate. The polymer chain consisted principally of units~(E) (B)-, where E lS ethylene and B
i5 selected randornly from ethyl acrylate, allyl acrylate 9 and maleic anhydride (2.5 weight percent).
D(2) Preparation of EthylenejEthyl Acrylate/Ethylene Di-acrylate/Maleic Anhydride Tetrapolymer The ~rocedure of D(l) above~ was repeated excep~
that 1.2 grams of ethylene diacrylate were used in place of the allyl acrylate. Yield: ~79 grams~ The branched ketrapolymer obtained had about 50 mole percent of ethylene units. m e polymer chain consisted principally of units ~E)~(B' ?~. where E is ethylene and B' is randomly selected ~rom ethyl acl~late, ethylene diacrylate, and maleic ; anhydride (3.~ weight percent).
- D(3) Preparation of Ethylene/Ethyl Acrylate/Ethylene Di-! acrylate/M~leic Anhydride Tetrap~lymer The procedur~ of D~l~ above was repeated except '~ khat 0.75 graan of ethylelle diacrylate was used in place of j 30 the allyl acrylate, and the amount of maleic a~hydride ' :~ .' ,' ' '',".
. .: :' .
. ' ~

~ C~7~45 was increased to 30 grams. Yield: 417 grams. The branch-ed tetrapolymer had about 50 mole percent of ethylene units, the units being arranged -tE)-(B')-9 as in D~2)~ ~he weight percent of maleic anhydride was 3~9,.
D(4) Blend of Branched Alternating Copolymers The branched copolymers made by procedures D(l), D(2~, and D(3) were blended on a rubber roll millO Table I gives the properties of the blend and its components.

. Parts ~ ' .
Copolymer in Wallace Neut . E .
DBlend Xnh.Visc. (a) Plast. meg~ .
. .
(1) 397 1.91 16.8 0~52 (2) 479 1.33 15 0.77 (3) 417 1.21 15 o.80 Blend (4) _ 1.75 14 0.70(b) (a) deciliters/gram; measured at 30C. on solution of 0.1 g. copolymer in 100 ml . of chloroform.
(b) acid-base titration using standard aqueous sodium hydroxide, the anhydride ! being titrated as diacid. 3~4 weight percent of maleic anhydride.
E. Prepa~ation of Ethylene/Ethyl Acrylate/Allyl Acrylate/
Maleic Anhydride Tetrapolymer The procedure of Part D(l) was repeated except that the pressure of ethylene was 42.2 kg./sq. cmO Yield:
233 grams. The tetrapolymer had an inherent viscosity of 2.37 deciliters/gram, a Wallace Plas~icity of 240~ and a l -1 30 neutralization equivalent of 0.49 meq./gram~ 201~ weight ,' ' `.. '.:
. , .
,.
. .
- : ' -33~
`
.~.,;

76~ 5 percent of maleic anhydride was present.
2) Preparation of Ethylene/Ethyl ( Acrylate/Allyl Acrylate/Maleic Anhydride Tetrapolymers The procedure of Part D(l) was twice repeated except that the amount of maleic anhydride was decreased each time to 10 grams. Yields: 4~1 grams and 497 grams.
There was 1-~ weight percent of maleic anhydride in F
and 2.1 weight percent of maleic anhydride in F
F(3) Preparation of EthylenejEthyl Acrylate/E~hylene ~ Diacrylate/Maleic Anhydride Tetrapolymer ; The procedure of Part D(l) was repeated except that 0.75 gram of ethylene diacrylate was used in place of allyl acrylate. Yield: 476 grams. 2.3 weight percent of malei~ anhydride was present.
F(l) Preparation of Blends o~ Branched Co-; ~ polymers A trunk copolymer composition was prepared by blending copolymers F(l~ F(2) and F(3) on a rubber roll mill. Table II gives characteristic properties.
TAB~E II
_ Parts in Neut.Eq.
Component Blend Inh.Visc Wallace Plast. meq,/~.
F(l) 336 1097 15.5 o.36 F(2) 292 1~78 13.3 0.42 241 1.52 14 o.46 Blend F~ 1.44 13.5 0.~3( ~ (a) 2.1 weight percent maleic anhydride was 3 present.

, :; ; 3~

. . ~ . .

G. Preparatiorl of Ethyl Acrylate/Monoethyl Fumarate Co-polymer In a 3-neck round-bottom flask, a mechanically stirred mixture of 500 ml. of benzene, lO0 ml. of inhibited ethyl acrylate, 7.2 grams of monoethyl fumarate, and 0.25 gram of azobis(isobutyronitrile) was purgecl with nitrogen for 30 minutes, then heated at 50C. under a nitrogen blanket for 24 hours. The copolymer was isolated by steam-stripping in a we~l-ventilated hood and dried overnight in ~ 10 a nitrogen-bled vacuum oven at 70C. Con~ersion was ~6 ; percent. Prior to analysis and use, the copolymer ~as puri~ied by dissolution in acetone~ precipitation in water in a blender~ and vacuum oven dryingO Properties are given in Table III, below~ 4.3 weight percent Or mono-ethyl ester of fumaric acid was present.
H 2 Preparation of Ethyl Acrylate/Maleic Anhydride (l)~ ( ) Copolymers ~ l) The reactor was a two-liter resin flask itted with an agitator, a condenser and a dropping ~unnel~
A 710-mlv charge of ethyl acetate and 0.2 gram of benzoyl peroxide was added and stirred under nitrogen while being heated to reflux. A mixture of 500 grams of inhibitor- -free ethyl acrylate, lO grams of maleic anhydride 9 and .. . .
one gram o~ benzoyl peroxide was placed in the dropping i,: : ` , ' .
- ,.
'',' . ~: ;' :
:; : :
:' ~
,, ~ .
, ~ ~ _35~
- , .

.

~ 7~al45 funnelO A 50-mlO charge of this monomer ~eed was added all at once to the stirred refluxing solution in the flask;
the rest was added over a period of 3.5 hours. After an additional two hours at reflux~ the reaction mixture was steam~distilled in a hood with good ven~ilation to remove solvent and residual monomers. The copolymer thus iso~
lated was washed with ~Jater on a wash mill, partially dried on a hot rubber roll mill, and then heated in a nitrogen bled vacuum oven for 22 hours at 130Co to remove residual volatilesO Yield: 44~ ~rams~
(2) The same equipment was used as in H(l) above.
e ethyl acrylate/maleic anhydride copolymer was prepared as follows. A mixture of 500 grams of ethyl acryla-te, 10 ; grams of maleic anhydride, and 0.5 gram o~ benzoyl per-oxide was added to 490 grams of refluxing ethyl acetate over a 4-hour period. After about ~5 percent of this feed mixture had been introduced, 140 ml. of cyclohexane and 35 ml. of ethyl acetate were added. ~en all the feed was in, ~0 ml~ more of ethyl acetate were added. Reflux 20 continued for one hour. Heat was then removed and the -mixture was allowed to stand for 36 hours. Finally, 0.5 gram of hydroquinone was added and the copolymer was isolated by steam--stripping the volatiles in a well-~entilated hood. Mill drying and vacuum oven drying (20 hours a~ 130C.) followed. Yield: 364 grams.
Properties of the copolymers prepared as described i~ Procedures G, H(l~ and H~2) are gi-ven in Table IIT~

.
.
-36~

; ~ ' '.
, ,, . - . .. . . .
. . : : : .. -:

T~BLE III
Maleic Inh. (a) ~allace Acidity(b) Copolymer Anh.,~ Visc~ Plast. meq./g.
G _ 2.32 - 0.30 H(l) 1.5 1.24 5 0.31 (2) 1.4 2.03 14 0.29 (a) deciliters/gram; measured at 30C. on a solution o~ 0.1 gram o~ copolymer in 100 mlO
o~ chloro~orm.
(b) acid-base titration with standard aqueous sodium hydroxide; values for H(L) and H(2) were each 0.15 meqa/g. when alcoholic potassium hydroxide was used; proportion of maleic anhydride calculated ~rom sodium - hydroxide values.
I. Preparation o~ Ethyl Acrylate/Butyl Acrylate~Monoethyl Fumarate Terpolymer ;~ The reactor was a nitrogen-blanketed two-liter resin ~lask ~itted with an agltator, a condenser~ and a dropping funnel.
Monomerlc ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate were : : ' passed through alumdna to remove polymerization inhibltors.
Then, 70 grams o~ the ethyl acrylate, 70 grams of the butyl acrylate, 10.5 grams o~ monoethyl fumarate, 21 grams of IGEPAL* C0-730 Conylphenoxy - poly(ethylene glycol) havlng about 15 -o-cH2-cH2- unit ~ 1050 grams o~ water, and 1.0 gram o~ ammonium persul~ate were added to the resin ~lask and heated to re~lux. A mixture o~ ~13 grams o~ ethyl acrylate, 113 grams of buty~ acrylate, 9.4 grams . i ..
~ ~30 * denotes trade mark ;' ' ~' ~' ~ .
;~ ~37~

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~.~7~45 o~ monoethyl fumarate, and 3.8 grarns o~ IGEPAL C0-730 was gradually introduced at a rate to keep the reaction temper-ature at 89 to 93C. After 1.4 hoursg all the feed had been added and stirring was becoming dl~ficult. After an additional 20 minutes~ the temperature o~ the reaction mixture had risen to 96C.~ whereupon 0.~5 gram o~ hydro-quinone was added, and residual monomers were removed by a 2-hour steam-distillation in a well-ventilated hood~
Coagulated polymer was washed by chopping in a blender with water, twice dissolved in acetone and re-precipitated in water in a blender, then air-dried, vacuum-oven dried 3.5 hrs. at 72C., and ~inally mill-dried at about 130~C. Yield: 254 g. The terpolymer pro-duced had an inherent viscosity (chloro~orm, 30C.) of 1.51 deciliters/gram and an acid content o~ 0.24 meq./gram (titration with aqueous sodium hydroxide), or 0.23 meq./gram (titration with alcoholic potassium hydroxide).
m e terpolymer had 3~3 percent monoethyl fumarate; the remainder was believed to be about e~ually divided between ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate.
J. EPDM/Maleic Anhydride Adduct Maleic anhydride was grafted on an ethylene/
propylene/1~4-hexadiene copolymer. The ethylene/
propylene/1,4-hexadiene copolymer was a sulfur-curable elastomer having a Mooney (ML~ 4/121C.) viscosity o~ about 35 and the folIowlng monomer uni~ ~
composition: ethylene, 61.4 weight percent; propylene~ -32 weight percent; l,l~-hexadiene, 6r 6 weight percent.
The copolymer had about 0O5 gram mole of ethylenically ':
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~ 70~345 unsaturated side chains per kilogramO Its ~Jallace Plasticity was about 2g at 100C. and its inherent viscosity was about 2.0 (measured at 30~C. on a solution of 0.1 gram of copolymer in 100 milliliters of tetra-chloroethylene). Copolymerization ~as carried out in solution in hexane in the presence of a Ziegler catalyst . formed by mixing VC14 and diisobutylaluminum chloride.
h Werner and P~leiderer 53 mm twin screw extruder was assembled by end-to-end attachment of . 10 sixteen barrel sections of 1~ 27 cm. diameter~ ~ollow- .
ing a short feed section were four reaction sections (zones.1~4), one vacuum port sec~ion (zone 5)~ a cool- ..
~ ing section (zone 6)9 and a die section~ Provisions ; were made for the metering of` molten maleic anhydride at the forward part of zone 1. The screws were composed of kneading blocks~ reverse pitch screws, and transport . screws arranged to generate 7~0-1401 kg~/sq, cm~ .
pressure in zones 1~4 and no pressure in zone 5. The :
free volume of zones 1-5 was equi~alent to 0~91 kg. of polymer at operating temperature. Zones 1-4 were pre-heated to 300C., zone 5 to 2600C.~ and zone 6, the cross-head, and the die to 150C.
The above ethylene/propylene/1,4-hexadiene copolymer was fed to the extruder in the form of chips which passed a 1.27:cm~ screen. P~aleic anhydride was metered to the extruder at an average feed rate of 4.
; percent of the poLymer ~eightO The. screw speed was 12 rpm, and the vacuum port was operated at about 63.S
cm. of Hg. . :
The product, extruded at the rate of 2.79 ,~ .
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kgO/hrO~ had a maleic anhydride content of 2.23 percent, as determined by infrared spectroscopy~ and 2.19 percent by weight as determined by titration in tetrahydrofuran with 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium hydroxide in methanol.
l~allace plasticity of the product was 33, and gel content was less than about 5 percent.
Follo~ring purification of a small sample by solution in tetrahydrofuran and precipitation with anhydrous acetone~ the maleic anhydride content was 2.19 percent and 2.05 percent by weight, respectively, by infrared and titration determination~ The gel content was 18ss than about 5 percent. The inherent viscosity ; was 1.5 deciliters/gram as measured on 0.1 gram of adduct dissolved in 100 milliliters of perchloroethylene at 30C.
The rest of the product was washed on a wash mill at 125C. for 20 minutes and dried on a 15~2 x 30.5 cm. mill.
A series of additional ethylene trunk co- -polymers (Procedures K to V listed in Table IV) were prepared containing maleic anhydride as one comonomer by a copolyn1erization reaction described aboveO
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Procedure AA
A heavy glass tube ~las used to prepare a low molecular weight pol~nerO Into the tube was placed 50 g.
of caprolactam, 10 ml~ of n-hexyl amine9 0~25 ml. of water. The tube was flushed with nitrogen and sealed off under vacuum. The tube was heated to 220C~ for 15 1/2 hours.
The polymer was removed from the tube and ~rashed with hot water to remove residual unreacted caprolactam and amine and dried. The polymer was found to have a melting point of 165C. by Dlfferential Thermal Analysis (DTA). Analysis of end groups showed 9l~0 milli~equiva~-lents/Yg. of NH2. These results were calculated to give a molecular weight of approximakely 1050.
Procedure BB
_ ; In a procedure similar to that in Procedure AA
a polyamide was prepared. Components were 50 g. of caprolactam and 12.5 ml. of n~hexyl amine. The tube was heated to 255C~ for 20 hours. The polyamide had a melting point of 177C.
Procedures CG to GG
~ ..
A heavr stainless steel tube ~as used to prepare low molecular weight polyamide pol~ners. N-hexyl amine was used as the chain initiator in the amounts used as listed . .
in Table Y. Solid, normal standard purification capro-~lactam was~used~ This probably contained trace amounts of water~ Otherwise water was excluded from the reaction to pre~ent initiation by water and subsequent ~e~nina~ion .
~ 30 of chalns by carbox~yl groupsc The tube was evacu~ted and ,1 ; -'2 7~ 5 flushed with nitrogen to prevent oxidati~e reactions and then refilled with nitrogen before sealing and heating.
The tube was agitated during the reaction period~ In all procedures the tube was heated to 255C~ during this period.
The analysis of the product was in -terms of melting point and end--groupsO The end-group analysis showed that only about 0~2 percent of ~he molecules were terminated by carboxyl groups.

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polyamides were made as shown i.n Table ~Io Reaction conditions were 255C~ for about 16 hours.

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Amine~terminated polyamides were prepared by procedùres PP-~X which are completely summarized in~Table VTI belowO Additional details are provid~d ~or Procedures QQ, SS, VV and XX which are typical processes~

In each of two 400 mlO stainless steel r~cker bombs was placed a mixture of 120 g. of caprolactam, 10 g of stearyl-amine, 0.3 g. of dlethyl phosphate~ and 120 ml. of benzene. Both bombs were flushed with nitrogen, sealed under nitrogen, and shalcen at 275C. for-17 hours.
The benzene-wet cakes of granular produc~ ~lere combined and soaked in acetone for 5 days~ then extracted o~ernight with acekone in a Soxhlet assemblyO The resulting powdery amine-terminated nylon product was air-dried in a hood~
then vacuum oven dried at 50C. for one hour. Analyses are in Table VII.
-A charge of 300 g. of caprolactam and 100 ml. of 2 0 water was sealed under nitrogen in a 1~.4-liter stainless steel rocker bomb and heated over a period o* 2.1 hours to 2~iOC.~ held there for 3 hoursp then cooled to room temperature. After an additional 650 ml. of water had ~ .
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i~ schedule: 1.2 hours heating to reach 210Co~ 15 minutes I I
at 210C~ cooling over 20 minutes to 135C.~ 2 hours at 135C~9 then coolin~ o~er 102 hours to room tempera~ure.
The resulting product, a partiàl slurry of powder, 30 granules~ an~ cake~ was partly de-watered by ~iltration~

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then choppe~ in a bLender with fr~sh warm water~ Acetone as added to increase slurry volume by 50 perceNt~ and the solids were isolated by filtratibn~ After being air~
dried in a hood9 then dried in a ~acuum oven ~or ~ hours a~ 100C~ (nitro~en bleed), the amine~terminated nylo p~oduct weighed 217 grams~ Analyses are in Table ~
~ W . ~ :, A charge o~ 769 grams of caprolactam, 32 grams of b~ylaminet and 15 grams of water ~as sealed under - - . . .
nitrogen in a l.4-liter stainless steel rocker bomb~ heat--ed over a 205-hour period to 2~0~Cog shaken at 2~0C~ for 7 hours~ then cooled over a 3.2-hour pe~iod to room temperature. The product, a brittle cake~ was mechanlcall~
chopped ko a coarse granula~ condition~ A 317.9-~ram por~ion of~ the ~okal produck was rolled overnight in a sealed 7.57-lltex jar with 1.~2 liters o methanol. In~ -soluble material was collected on a filter, washed in ~;
~wo portions ~ith 0.47 liter of methanol7 b~iefly air-dried, and then dried in a nitrogen-bled vacuu~ oven for 3 hours at 75C. Dry extracted product weighed ~267.6 ~rams0 Analyses of a smaller sample (15 grams? ~ ~ -simi]arly extracted ~ikh methanol are sho~m in Table VII.
Procedure XX
. . .
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A mixture bf 70 grams of caprolactam, 6 ~rams Or l-octadecyla.~ine~ and 195 milliliters of diphenyl e~her was placed in a 0.4 li~er stainless steel roclfer . .
I bo~b. After the system had been evacuated and filled - with nitrogen two times, it ~Jas closed under vacuu~
.. . . . . . .
and shaken for about ~ hours at 2600C.; heatin~ and ` ' ~4~$~

. ~7~(:145 shaking continued for two daysS the final temperature being 235C~
The resulting mixture was washed on a filter with acetone and shaken for three days in acetone to remo~e diphenyl ether. The product was collected on a filter, washed with acetone, and extracted overnight in a Soxhle~ extractor with acetone. Drying in air and then a vacuwn desiccator a~ 53C. gave the 6-nylon as a powder having an inherent viscosity of 0,21 deciliters/gram (at 30C~ in m-cresol) and 0.3g3, 0.3g~
eq. -NH2 groups/kg. ~corresponding to a molecular weight of about 2600 and a DP of about 21).
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~ 7 0 ~ ~ 5 Procedures YY to KKK
Procedure YY
Caprolactam/n-Hexylamine Oligomer A 200-mlO pressure reactor was charged with 50 g.
(O.~L~2 mole) of -caprolactam (CL) 9 10 g . (O- 099 mole) of n-hexylamine (HA) and 0~2 g~ (0,011 mole) of water~ The reactor was cooled in a dry ice-acetone bath, e~acuatively purged twice with nitrogen, evacuated~ and heated at 250C~
for 16 hours with the contents ~der autogenous pressure~
The cooled product was a soft white solid, A 45~g~
portion was extracted by centrifugation first with about 900 ml. of 1:1 acetone:water and secondly with acetone~
The air-dried residue weighed 2505 g., and could be readily crushed to a fine powderO Analysis showed ~65 equi~alents of amino end groups per 106 g~ corresponding -to a degree of polymerization (DP) of about 9a Differential scanning calvrimetry (DSC) showed a major melting endotherm at 196-19~C.
The above procedure? except that water was omitted9 was used to prepare additional samples of CL/
alkyl-amine oligomers~ Reactors up to 1300 ml size were used as appropriate. The data for these preparations are preeen~ed in the follo~ling Table ~III.

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Laurolactam/n-He~ylamine Oligomers Following Procedure YY~ except that a tempera-ture of 300C, was used, laurolac~am/n-hexylamine (LL/HA) oligomers were prepared from laurolactam (cyclic lactam from 12-aminolauric acid) and n-hexylamine~ The data are presented in the following Table IX.

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~L~)7~45 Procedures 000 to PPP
Preparation of NH2-Terminated 12-N~lons Procedure 000 A mixture of 59.6 grams of ~-laurolactam and .~ grams of l-octadecylamine was heated in a glass polymer tube. After the resulting melt had been allowed to crystallize, 0.16 gram of diethyl phosphate (CH3CH20)2P02H
; was added. The tube was then evacuated and filled with nitrogen about five times. While under vacuum the neck of the tube was sealed. The mixture was then heated at about 2~5 to 2~C. for about 9~5 hours. The 12-nylon obtained (yield about 45 grams) had a melting point of about 145-150Co ~ an inherent viscosity of 0.3~ (at 30C3 in m-cresol), and 0~225~ 0~226 equi~alent of ~NH2 groups per kilogram (corresponding to a molecular weight of 4L~30 and a DP of about 21)~
Procedure PPP
A mixture of 50 grams of ~-laurolactam and 10.5 ml. (13.~ g.) of n-hexylamine was placed in a heavy stainless steel tube, which was evacuated, flushed with nitrogen, and ~illed with nitrogen, then sealed and heated sixteen hours at 255C. The resulting nylon contained 0~92 equivalent of -NH2 groups per kilogramO
The molecular weight of the nylon thus was about 2030 and its DP was about 9~5.
~L~ .
Additional 12-nylons were made by method PPP
using n-hexylamine as the polymerization initiator9 The products had DP's o~ 5~3, 7.0, 10.27 14.39 15.6, 2400, -30 and 15~6, xespectivelyg ~7~45 ~XA~
The ~ollowing tests w~re used in the Examples to provide property measurements of the graft copolymers.
The Izod Impact Strength test (Izod) was determined by standard ASTM D 256-73. 5amples are compression molded in a lab press at 190C, in the form of 76 mm x 76 mm x 3.1~ mm sheets. Bars 63~5 mm x 12.7 mm are cut from the sheet and notched as specified in ASTM D 256-730 Samples are allowed to condition at room temperature for 16 24 hours, after cutting and notching, before testing. Five bars of each sample are tested and the a~erage value re-ported as the Izod Impact Strength in kg.-cm~/cm~ of notch.
Variable Height Impact was determined by com-pression molding sheets in a press at 190C. to a thick-ness of 0.76-1.02 mm. These are allowecl to condition at room temperature for 16-24 hours before testing. The test is run using a Gardner Impact Tester~ Model IG 1120M.
- The tester has a3.63 kilogram weight with a 12.7 mm diameter ball end. It is dropped onto a sample supported on a metal plate havin~ a 16.3 mm diameter hole directly under the impact point of the weight. The weight falls through a tube which is marked in k~O-cm- The point at which the weight is released is recorded as the impac-t energy for that drop, The force at whiçh 50 percent of the samples break is reported as the Gardner Impact Strength in kg~cm. The samples may be measured as to thickness and the values reported as impact strength in kg.-cm./
.
3 Vapor Pressure Osmometry was determinecl by a standard method ~escribed in R~ UO Bonnar~ M~ Dimbat and ~5~-.:

. ' . - ' ' F~ H. Stross~ Number-A~erage Molecular Weights, ~n~er-science, N. Y0~ 195~. This is a solution method; the solvent must be a good solvent for the makerial being evaluated. A preferred solvent was o-dichlorobenzene, and the test temperature was 100C.
Flexural Modulus was measured by standard ASTM V-790-5~T or as modified. Samples are compression molded at 190C D in a laboratory press in the form of 127 mm x 12.7 mm x 3.1~ mm bars (or 50.~ mm x 12.7 mm film)O The bars (film) are conditioned at room temperature 16-2~ hours before testing. The test is conduc~ed using a 50.~ mm (or 25.~ mm) span at a crosshead speed of 1.27 mm/min. (or 5.1 mm/min.~0 The tangent modulus of elasticity (flexural modulusj is calculated using the eguation given in the ASTM procedure~ The value obtained is expressed in flex modulus in kg./sq. cm.
Heat Deflection Temperature was determined by compression molding samples in a laboratory press at 190C. in the form of 127 mm x 12.7 mm x 3.1~ mm barsO
m ese bars are tested in accordance with the procedure stated in ASTM D 64B. The bars are allowed to condition at room temperature for 16-24 hours before testing.
Weights are placed on the loading rod to obtain a fiber stress of 1~.56 kg~/sq. cm. and the bars are heated in a bath until a deflection of 0025 mm is measured~ The temperature at which the bar is deflected 0~25 mm is reported as the deflection temperature at 1~.56 kgO/sq cmO ~iber stress.

30Table X below summarizes the preparation5 composition7 and properkies Gf representative graft -~9~

~7~5 copolymers of the present invention.
For all graft products, slabs for testing could be prepared by brief compression molding at 235 C.
followed by rapid (~ 2 min.) cooling and immediate demold~ng. Annealing o~ these slabs at 1'35C. Por 4 to 5 hours generally i~proved compre~sion set about 20 to 35 points but had llttle effect on other propertie~ The grafting procedure used in Example 7 o~ Table X l$
illustrative of the pro~ess:
A mixture of 36 grams of the ethylene/vlnyl acetate/maleic anhydride trunk copolymer o~ Procedure Gg 14 gr~m~ of the powdered low molecular weight ~2N-terminated 6-nylon of Procedure SSJ 0. 1 gram of -tris(rnono and di-nonylphenyl) pho~hite ~tabilizer /~OLYC~ARD* ~rom Uniroyal7, 0.1 gram o~ stabilizer N-phenyl-N'~ toluene-; ~ulfonyl)-~-phenylene-diamine ~RANOX* from Uniroyay , 0 9 1 gram o~ 1,3,5 trimethyl-2~4,6~tri~(3 J 5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)benzene /~ONOX 330* from Shel ~ j and 0.05 gram of a 7:1 weight mixture of potasslum iodide and ~0 cuprous iodide was homogenized as thoroughly a~ po~sible on an unheated rubber roll mill, The resulting blend was then tran~ferred to an electrically heated mill held at 215C. and mastica~ed at 2:L5C. under a partial nitrogen blanket for 15 minute~ to e~fect grafting. At thi3 point the material was ready for fabricationO
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Preparation of Additional 6-Nylon and of 12-Nylon Graf'-t Copolymers Based on Ethylene/Methyl Acrylate/Monoethyl Maleate Copolymers Copolymers of ethylene, maleic anhydride (MA), and monoethyl maleate (MAME.) were prepared according to the method A~ above 7 except that the proportions of the comonomers were variedO Grafting of low molecular weight 6-nylons and 12-nylons was acco~plished either on a roll mill under nitrogen blanket at about 225Co or in a twin screw extruder at about 225C~ Detailed information on these preparations is presented in Table XI/ below~
For testing for tenstile strength and flexural modulus the specimens were injection molded at 225-235Co and held under nitrogen for at least one day at 23C~
The following test procedures were used:
: For tensile strength and elongation at break ASTM D-63~-72 O ~or flexural modulus D 790~71 ~ Torsion modulus values were measured in the manner described in Anelastic and Dielectric Effects In Polymeric Solids by N. G. McCr~, Bo Eo Read and G~ I~Jilliams5 ppsO 192-1959 John ~iley and Sons~ Inc.~ Ne~ York (1967)o Eor melt index standard test ASTM D-123~73~ Condition E
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~ 2~ 211 Preparat~on of 6-Nylon and 12-Nylon Graft Copolymers on EPDM Copolymers A Brabender Plastograph was used having a capacity of about 50 gram~ and heated by circulatlng oil (temperature 250C.). Revolving cam-3haped blades knead-ed and sheared. A nitroæen blanket was maintained at all time~.
A~ter 30 grams of the EPDM copolymer-maleic anhydride adduct J, above, has been added, an ant1oxldant mixture, an oil ~ixture, and an amlno-terminated 6~ or 12-nylon (X~ or 000, above) were added succe~slvely as quickly as po~sible. Mixing then continued for 12 mlnutes. m e resulting nylon graft copolymer was dump-ed. Table XII gives the propertles of a 6-nylon and a 12-nylon graft.
m e antloxidant mixture employed (0.7 gram) consisted of 0.3 gram o~ N-phenyl~N'~(~-toluenesul~onyl)-~-phenylenediamin~ /~RANoX*7, 0.3 gram o~ 1,3~5 tri-methyl-2,4,6-tri~(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydro~benzyl) benzene /~hyl Antioxidant 330, ~ormerly IONO~ 330*7, and 0.1 gram o~ a 7~1 weiæht mixture o~ potaæ~ium iodide and cuprous iodide.
The oll mixture consi~ted o~ the antioxidant tris~mono- and di-no~ylphenyl) phoæphite rOL~GARD*
from UniroyaI7 and SUNPAR-~ paraf~inic oll 2280 STM
D-2226t M e 104BJ having Saybold U~iversal Viscosi~y values o~ 2907 ~èc. and 165 ~ec, at 37.80CD and 98.9C., re~pectlvely, specific gravity, 0.8916 (at 15.6C.), denslty~ oO8879 g.~cc~; molecular weight~ 720, visco~ity-gravity constant, 07796; refractive index 20a 1.49087 * denotes trade mark .
.
., ~.. ~.. -.. . ..

~ 7~ ~ ~ 5 All mixtures contained O.3 gram of the antioxidant; the oil amounted to 10.5 grams for ~?~nylon grafting and ~.5 grams for 12-nylon gra~tingO
TABLE XII
G-N~lon 12-Nylo Pro~rti.~.s Gr~ft C,l`~l~t Tensile St-ren~th, 97.7 7'9.4) ~G.l k~./sq.cm, E~tensiorl at B~ak, % 6~0 G207 G~0 Modulus a-t 100% E~:tension, k~./sq.crn, 2~.1 33.7 200~ " " 36.G ~10.1 300~ 7.1 Permanent Set at ~reak 5 ~ 4 0 , ~
Coml~ression Set (Method B, 22 hrs./70C.), % 77 ~3 Shore A hardness ~G 84 Fas-t Tear, 127 cm./min~ J 1108 21.
kg./cm, .
The ethylene copolymer of Procedure K and the polyamide o~ Procedure AA were dissoived in hot hexamethyl phosphoramide. The solutions o~ the polymers were mixed to give a ratio of 5 parts of the ethylene copolymer to 1 part of the polyamide~ This solution was kept hot for about 5 minutes and then poured into rapidly stirred cold a~etonitrile to precipitate the polymer~ It.was then filtered and washed with acetone to remove excess solvent and driedO
30 A film was melt pressed at 1~5C.
The infrared spectrum showed almost complete re~ction of the anhydride group, indicating that the short ....

~ : 7 /
' ' , .

~ ' ' :' .

~ ~ 7 ~

polyamide cl-lains had been attached to the longer ethylene copolymer as side chains.
EXA~5PLE 26 ~ enty grams of an ekhylene copolymer ~Procedure L) and 4 gO of a polyamide (Procedure BB) were blended on a two-roll, electrically heated mill at 175C. for 5 minutes.
The infrared spectr~n of the resultant reaction ~ product showed almost complete reaction of the`anhydride groups~

In a manner similar to Example 25 the polyamides of Procedures HH and II were reacted with the ethylene copolymer of Procedure M in a solution of benzyl alcoholO
The in~rared spectrum showed that over 50% of the anhydride groups had reacted~

.

~ "-'.
Thirty grams of polyethylene which was modified by copolymerization with 4~0 maleic anhydride (Procedure N) was blended on a two-roll mill at 200~G. wikh 12 gO o~ a polyamide (Procedure, GG).
The sample was molded at 230C~ to give a clear filmv The infrared spe,ctrum showed that over ~0% of the anhydride groups had reacted~
.

L~L
In a manner similar to Examples 25 and 26 a series o~ graft polymers were made using components as show~n in Tab]e XIII.

-6~-~' "

.
, . ~

~7~
The melting point of Example 32 was found to be 1~9C. (by DTA measurement).
r G~8~-~
Three graft copolymer resins were macle by re-action of the molten polymer on a two roll mill at 200~C~
for 2 minutes as described in previous examples~ The tensile properties of the graft copolymer are given in Table XIV with a comparison with the ungrafted ethylene copolymers. This shows the vastly increased tensile strength imparted to the ethylene copolymers due to the presence of the polyamide side chains~

1070~

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: .. . . ' . , . '. ' , ~ ' , ~ . ' , ' ~L~7~5 The value of graft copolymers such as described above in an adhesive system is revealed when the adhesive is tested for resistance to failure at elevated tempera~
tures. The use of the graft copolymers of Examples 33 and 36 in a hydrogenated wood rosin ester, Hercules' Foral~ 105 is described belowO
Example 40 consis~s of a blend containing 65%
Foral~ 105 and 35~0 of the graft copolymer of Example 33 melt blended on a 2 roll mill at 1~5C. This blend was coated on l~raft paper using a hot plate and a meyer rod. This coated paper was then sealed to a second, ùncoaked piece of kraft paper at 200C. for 3 seconds at 0.70 kg./sq. cm. pressure. The coated sandwich was cut into 12.7 mm strips for testing in peel. A 50 g. weight was used to try to pull the strips apart in peel.
Example ~1 consists of a similar blend based on j 65qo Foral~ 105 and the graft copolymer of ~xample 36~ A
similar sandwich betwee~ pieces of kraft paper was made9 cu~, and weighed for testing.
A blend of 65~o Foral~ 105 and a high molecular weight~ ungrafted~ ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer~
Elva~ 260, was made. This was used to bond two pieces of kraft paper for testing as a control for the above ~wo examples. The results are given in Table XV~
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TABLE XV
Failure Temperature C~ For _ Pe~l of Bonds In Oven ~_ I
Control 65 - 70 Example 41 go ~5 Example 40 115 ~ 120 ~, Ten grams of an ethylene copolymer (Procedure M) were dissolved in hot toluene~ To this hot solution were added 2 ml~ of a polyethylene oxide product, which is a polymer of about 360 molecular weight (about g ethylene oxide repeat units) and for which most of the chains are terminated on one end by a primary amine (-NH2~ and on the other end by an alkyl group. The material was supplied by ~efferso~ Chemical Company and designated amine 4419-35.
They report a molecular weight of 3609 based on a primary amine content of 2.71 milliequivalents per gram~ The resultant solution was maintained at about 110C. for five minutes. The solvent was evaporated and the solid product was me]t pressed into a clear film.
The infrared spectrum of this sample showed that essentially all of the anhydride groups of the ethylene copolymer had reacted with the amine ends of the polyethylene oxide chainsO ~ ;
~ . : ' ' - ~ive grams of an ethylene copolymer (Procedure S) ~ere dissolved in hot toluene. To this ho~ solution was added 1 gram o~ the amine terminated polyethylene oxide 30 ~ material of Example 42. The solvent was e~aporated and .'' ,:
.~ . .
~ -73~
; " ' ' ~. ~' ~ ' ' '. . ' :

~D7~

the solid product was melt pressecl into a 10 mil filmO
The film was tested on a Keithly E~ectrometer No~ 610B
by ASrl~ D 257 and found to have a volume resistivity of 109 ohm cmO In contrast a controlS ungrafted ethylene/
vinyl acetate copolymer (2~% vinyl acetate) had a volume resistivity of 404 x 1013 o~n cmO Thus~ the graf-t co~
polymer has a conductivity 4~000 times that of the un-grafted resin~

10Five grams of an ethylene copolymer (Procedure R) were reac-ted with 2 ml of the amine terminated poly~
ethylene oxide polymer of Example 42 and by the same procedure. The solid film was tes~ed and f`ound to have a volume resistivity of 6.7 x 107 ohm cm. Thus~ this re,sln has a conductlvlty almost 1 million times that of the ungrafted resin in Example 430 AMPLE ~5 Preparation of Terminal Amine-Containing Polypivalolactone - To 51~9 g~ of 10 percent aqueous tetrabutyl~
ammonium hydroxide was added 3.02 g. of ~-aminophenyl acetic acid. The resulting solution was evaporated in vacuo to an amber oil ~Jhich was dried in vacuo to a green solid ~hich w~s washed with tetrahydrofuran to give 4.7 g. of nearly colorless crystals of tetrabutylammonium ~-aminophenyl acetate (hygroscopic).
To a stirred solution of 50 g~ of pivalolactone in 100 ml. of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran i,n a 5~0-ml. resin ket-tle was added a solu-tion of 407 g. of tetra~utyl ammonium p-aminophenyl acetate in 10 ml~ of methanol.
After 5 minutes, an exothermic polymerization occurred with vigorous refluxing and precipitation of polymerO Th~

.

' ' ' , , ' '' ' ' ' . ' ~iL197~5 polymer was collected by filtration and washed twice with ethanol in a l~aring Blendor and dried at 70/0~ l mm~ to give 51~7 g~ of amine~terminated polypivalolactone?
~ inh = 0~15 (0~5 percent in trifluoroacetic acid? 25)o Anal~ Calcd- for dp ~2 C23~H3~00~6N2: C, N, 0.61.
Found: C, 61.3; H, ~.2~; Np 0.~2 60.9 ~.~6 0.4 Differential scanning calorimetry: first heating, T~ 197Co ; 10 lm2 200C.
Grafting Ethylene/Methyl Acrylate/Half Ethyl Ester of ~laleic Acid and Amine-rerminated Polypiv~lolac~one Using a 76~2 mm, two roll roller mill preheated to 225C., 24 g~ of terminal amine-containing polypivalo-lactone was first melted ~amber color) and 41 g. of a ; copolymer derived from 54 weight percent methyl acrylate, 4~5 weight percent half ethyl ester of maleic acid, and 40.5 weight percent ethylene. The polymers were rolled for 13 minutesO Initi~lly, vapors were observed, but they soon ceased. Si~ty grams of amber, rubbery polymer ere obtained. A film was pressed between Kapton~ poly-amide film (Du Pont) at 215C./14.06 kg./cm.2. The film when stretched at 5.~0 cm./min~ gave 360 percent elonga-tion at the break (175 percent permanent set) with a tensile strength of 133.6 kg./cm.~O A sample which was , stretched ~after cold drawing) three times to 160 percent had 15 percent permanent set. A ~iber, spun at 204C D
. ~ ' ' ' ' .
had a den~er of 209, an elongation of 200 percent and a tenacity o~ 0.3~ grams per denier.
A sample of the polymer was purified by grind-~ ~.

~7~5 ing in a mill with dry ice and then blending for 1 hour wi-th 300 ml. of ethanol containing 300 ml. of tetrahydro-furan9 and ~0 mlO of 10 percent hydrochlorlc acid. After washing in the blender with ethanol, the polymer was dried at 60Co/0~1 mm~ Purified polymer was pressed in~o a clear9 yellow9 bubble-free film at 200C./
105~.5 kg./cm.2 ~hich had 400 percent elongation (100 per-cent elastic elongation3 and a tensile strength o~ 197.75 kg,/cm.2O
~XA~L~_~6 Ten grams o~ an ethylene copolymer (similar to Procedure R) were reacted with ~ ml of the amine -terminated polyethylene oxide pol~mer of Example ~2 and by the same procedure.
Four grams of this grafted copolymer were blended with 46 g. polypropylene (Profax~ 6501~ Herculesg IncO) on an electrically heated two roll millO
The solid product was melt spun into fiber~
The fiber was gathered into a hank of 3500 denier and tested ~or resix~ivity~ The fiber resistivity ~as 4O~ x 109 ohm cm. This is in contrast to a value of about 1017 ohm cm. for fiber of pure polypropylene~
~t~ ' A free radical process, as described in U. SO
Patent 3t6~9~593 was used to make a polymer of styrene ~using aminoethanethiol as -the cha~n transfer agent~O
The molecular weight of the polymer is about 3500 (about 3~ monomer units) and about 90~ of the molecules are terminated with an NH2 group on one end with either a ~76~

~ ~ 7~

phenyl group or a me~hyl group on the other endO
0.5 Gram of the solid po~ymer described above was blended in a solution of boiling toluene with 205 g.
of an ethylene copolymer (Procedure S~. The solution was used to cast a clear film~ The clarity of this film shows that grafting has taken place~

EXA~LE 4~
Six grams of copolymer similar -to -that of Procedure M were dissolved in hot toluene, To this were 10 added 30 gc of a low molecular weight polystyrene similar ~, to that of Example 47, The film was dried on the steam bath and it dried as a clear film. From the infrared spectra it was concluded that 20-25 percent of the anhydride present in the ethylene copolymer had re actedO
EX~.~LE 49 A low rnolecular wei~ht polymer of methyl methacrylate was made using the process of U0 S0 Patent 3~6~9J593. It was made in a 250 mlr round bottom flask 20 into which was put 100 mlO toluene, '75 ml. of uninhibited methyl methacrylate, o.6 gO of 2-aminoethanethiol and 0.1 g. of (Azo~ ~) azodicyclohexanecarbonitrile. This was heated with vigorous stirring at 110C. for L hour~
Unreacted monomer and soLvent ~as driven off~ The resultant pol~mer represented a 41 percent conversion of the methyl me~hacrylateO
Fi~e grams of the ethylene copolymer of Procedure ; S were dissolved in toluene~ To th.is was added 1~75 g~ of the above methyl methacrylate polymer~ The solution was -77~

~ ~ 7 ~ ~ 4 S

heated to abou~ 100Co for 10 minutes, dried, and melt pressed into a 0~25 n~ film. The film was crystal clear~
tough and moderately flexibleD A control sample was made by substituting an ethylene/vinyl acetate bipolymer containing 2~ percent vinyl acetate ~or the ethylene co-polymer of Procedure S in the above blending procedure.
The resultant film was slightly hazy and it exhibited very weak tear strengthv This cornparison shows that the low molecular weight polymethyl methacr~late of this Example is not compatible with an e~hylene/vinyl acetate bipolymer and consequently that the good physical properties of this example show that a graft copolymer has been produced.

~ low molecular weight polymer of methyl methacrylate was made by the same process as ~xample 49 The level of 2-aminoethanethiol was reduced to 0.~ g.
and the temperature was reduced to 100Co The initiator was 0.1 g~ Azo~ 64 (azobisisobutyronitrile~ The re-sultant polymer represented a 51 percent conversion of the me~hyl methacrylate.
Five grams of the ethylene copolymer of Procedure S were dissolved in toluene. To this was added a toluene solution containing 5O3 g. of the above polymethyl rlethacrylate. The solvent was evaporated and the polymer was pressed at 190C. into a 0~25 mm film.
The film was crystal clear, showing as above that grafting had taken place.
EXAMrLE ~1 A blend was made on a heated two roll mill~
3 This blend contained 90 percent poLyvinyl chloride and ~7~~

~ l:b7~ S

10 percent ol t,he graf-t copolymer of Ex~mple 50~ The polyvinyl chloride used contained ~ pelcent Thermolitc~ 31 as a stabili.zer~ The blend was mold&d illtO slabs 3.-17 mm ~hiclc for testing. These ~ere clear~ The Izod Impact Strength was 5.4 kg.-cm2/cm. o~ notch. The heat deflect,ion tempe.rature, ASTM D~6L~g ~ G kg~/cmO2) ~Jas 6~oC.
~XA~IPLE 5 2 A low molecular weight polymer of methyl methacry].ate ~Jas made by the same process as Example 49.
The methyl methacrylate le~el was ~7 g..9 the 2-amlno-ethanethiol was 0.5 g~ and 0.05 g~ of AZd~6L~ (azobisiso~
butyronitrile) ~^~as used as catalyst. The mixture ~s heated t~ lOO~C. ror 1 hour. The resultant polymer re~resented a 36 percent conversion of the me~hyl methacrylclte~ The nunber~average molecular weight of the polymer ~as abou~ 7000 by vapor pressure os~ome~ry~ -This represents an average degree of pol~ eri3ation of about 70~ -A graft polymer was made as in Example 49D The ingredients were 2 g. o~ the poly~ner of Example 52 and 2 g.
of t'ne polymer of Procedure V, The product was cast from solution into a clear and flexible fil.m, showing that grafting had taken place.
EX~LE 51~.
_ __ - A blend was made on a two roll mill. Thi~
blend contained ~5 percent of polyviny1 chloride and 15 percent of the graft copolymer of ~x~nple 53~ The ~ Tzod~Impact Streng~th was 13 kg.-cm~/cm~ of nokch~ Th~
~alue 1n the ~ariable ~leight Impact Test was 122 kg~cm,/~m ~79-of t;hickness ~.76 n~m sheet)~
~,X~MPLE 55 ~ ._~
' A low molecular weight polymer was made as in Example ~9. The ingredients were ~7 g~ of methyl methacrylate, 0.~ g~ of 2~aminoethanethiol and 0~04 g~
of Azo~ 64. The resultant polymer represented a 33 per~
cent conversion of the methyl methacryla~e. The number average molecular ~leight was 5500 by vapor pressure osmometryO
. ~ ~, A graft copolymer was made as in Example 4 The ingredients were 2.4 g. of the polymer of Example 55 and ~.7 g. of a polymer containing 3~ pel~cent'vi'nyl ace~ate a'nd 2.6 percen~ maleic'anhydride. The film was clear and rubbery. The infrared spectrum showed that ,~ essentially all o~ the anhydride'groups were reactedO
, EX~ ~LE 57 , .
A blend was made as in Example 51~ The ' components were, g5 percent polyvinyl chloride and 15 percent o~ Example 5G. The flexural modulus of this ' blend was 23,902 kg./sq. cm.; the Izod Impact Strengt~l 12 `~
kgO-cm~/cm of no~ch; the Variable Height Impact Test value 122 kgO-cm./mm and the Heat DefIection Temperature~ 69~C~
. EX~ ~LE 5g .
' , Five grams of an eth.ylene copolymer containing maleic a~hydride~ Procedure Q, were dissolved in toluen~
~ To this solution were added 2 g. of a polypropylene oxide ; substantially all of the c,hains of which have an alkyl group of 3 carbon atoms on one end and a primary amine 30 on ~he other end~ (Supplied by Jef~erson Chemical ' .

- . ~

,, . , : - - .: . ~ .

~i7~5 Company as Jeffamine~ 4~ 69; molecular weighk approximately 600~ The solvent was removcd by heatin~
over a steam bath A film of this product cast from solution was clear, indicating that grafting had taken place.

One gram of the ethylene copolymer of Procedure .
S was dissolved in hot hexamethyl phosphoramide, l/2 g.
of a low molecular weight polycaprolactam of Procedure GG
was also dissolved in hot hexamethyl phosphoramide~ The two solutions were mixed and kept hot for about 5 minutesO The polymer was precipitated in pentane~
filtered, washed with pentane and dried. The melt pressed film fro~. this polymer was clear. The infrared spectrutn showed that about 50 percent of the anhydride groups of the ethylene copolymer h~d reacted.
One gram of the above half-grafted copolymer ; was redissolved in hot hexamethyl phosphoramide. To this solution ~ras add~d 1/2 g~ of the snort chain pol~ethylene oxide of Example 420 -This ras again held hot lor about 5 minutes, precipitated, filtered, ~r~shed and dried~ The i~
infr~red scan showed that all of th~ anh~dride ~ias reacted b~ the absence of the in~rared band at 5.4 microns.
In this exampleg there has been produced a ~raft copolymer in lrhich th~ main chain is an ethylene~vin-Jl acetate/maleic anhydride copolymer, and ~ich has two - types of side chains; one is a polyamide chaint the other is a chain of polyethylene oxide units.

~ot toluene ~as used as the reaction medium ''' , .~

.

~~~
7~ ~ ~5 in ~rhich a shor~, C}lairl O~ pol~methyl methacry3.ata uni.ts similar to the produ~t in ~xc~nplc L~9 ~ere gra~ted to the ethylene copol~ner of Procedure S. l'he dried sample ~J~S
pressed int.o a c].ear Lilm~ The infrared spectrwn showe~
that about-. 10 percent o.~ the anhydride groups had reac~e~.
0.75 Gram of this gra.~t copol~mer was redissolved in toluene~ To ~his ~as added 0~25 gO of khe sllort chain polyethylene oxide materi.al of Example ~2 - This solution was kept hot for 5 minutes and then clried, The pressed fi]~n was c].ear? and the infrared spectr~m showed complete reaction of the anhydride~
~ .
In this example 7 khere has been produced a ~raft i~ ;
copolymer in ~hich khe ~ain chain is an ethylene/vinyl clcetat~ copolymer/maleic anhyclri.de~ and whicll has two types o~ side chains~ one is a polyrnethyl methacrylclte chain~ the okher is a polyethylene oxide chain.
. EX~IPLE 61 .. . .
In a manner similar to the procedure in Example 60~ OJ 5 g. of a short chain polystyrene simî]ar to thak described in Example 47 ~ras ~rafted to 1 g. o.~ the ethylene copolyr.1er of Procedure S~ To Oa 75 g, of this .
part.ia~Ly grafted copolymer was graf1~ed 0.25 gO OI the polyethylene oxide of Exarnple ~2, ~.
In this exarnple there has been made a graft copolyner in ~hich the maln chain is an ethylene/
vi.nyl acetate/maleic anhydride copol~nert some of ~he side chai.ns are polystyrene and others are poly~
.
e~hylene oxide chc~ins.
EX~IPLE 62 .. . . . .
. 30 ~n a manner sirnilar to the procedure o~ Example ' ~2~

~! .
' . ' . . ` ' ' - . . . , , ~ ', ~ " " ' .' ' ' ~ ' ' .

7~

60~ 2 g. o~ h~ poly.,~hyl methacrylatc resin of ~-~a~.ple L~9 ~as reacted ~;ith l g~ of the ethy]:ene copol~er of Procedure Sq The in:~rared spectrum of thi.s copolymer sho~red that about 40 percen~ of the anhydride had reactedu To 1 l/2 g. o~ this partially grafted copolymer was grafted l gO of the short chain polystyrene rcsin si.milar to that described in l~xample 1~7i The fil~ pressed from this graf~ copol.ymer ~ras clearO The infrared spectru~
showed that about 90 percent o~ the anhydride graf~
sites had reactedO
In this example there was made a graft copo].ymer ... :
in which about 50 percent of the tot~l nwnber of side chains -~ :
are polyrnethyl methacrylate chains and about 50 percen-t of ~he total n~ber of side chains are polystyrene side chains ~
E~AI~LE 63 ---- .
hn ethylene copolymer ~ias synthesized and was shown by analysis to have 23 percent vinyl acet~te and 9,percent methyl hydrogen maleate (the half methyl ester of maleic acid)~
A toluene solution ~,las made of 1~5 g. of this copolymer and l ~ of an amine. terminated polyethylene oxi~e of about lOOO molecular ~reightO This is similar to the polyethylene oxide of Example 42~ This solution ~as heated for about 15 minutes and the~ heat treated on a .
steam bath to drive off the solv~nt. The infrared spectrum sho~red that grafting had ta~en place~
F~XA~.rPI.T~ 6L~
__ :A styrene copol~ner containing 17 p~rcent by 3 wei.~h~ copol~nerized maleic anhydride was obtained from ~3- :
`~' ' 7C3~

Monsa~to ~I.ynkrG~ ~20). Two ~rams of this copolymcr were reacted in solution the solvent being tol~lene/
tetra}1ydroruran (90/lO) with 3~ gO of the amine-terminated polyethylene o~ide (molecular weight lOOO) of Example 63. The dried blend is perfectly clear, indicatin~, tha~
grafting has taken place.
EX~LE 65 T~o grams of the styrene~maleic anhydride co-. polymer of Example 64 ~/ere reacted in solution as described in that Exampl.e wit,h 202 g. of the amine-terminated poly~
pr~pylene-oxide (mol. wto 600) of Example 60~ The driec1 ble~d is perfectly clear9 indicating that grafting has ~
tak~n place. -FX~MPLE 66 One gram o.~ the styrene/maleic anhydride co~
polymer of Example 61~ was reacted in solution the solvent being hexamethylphosphoramide with an ~mine-terr.inated polyc~prolactam oligomer ol mol9 ~Ito O (Procedure ~D). The resultant po]ymcr gave a clear fil.rn~ indicating that grafting has taken place~
.eic .~nh ~ aft A. S _ ~ion Procedure EX~.1PLE 67 A solution of lO g. of 95.~ .2 ethylene/maleic anhydride ~E/MAnh) copolymer (r~ 3 in 12S ml~ toluene - and 25 ml. hexamet;hylphosphoramide (~ P) was mixed ~nth a solution o~ 3~7 g. of c~prolactam (CL)/hexylamine (HA3 oligomer ~DP = 7; Table VIII~ Procedure FF~ in lOO mlY
of dry H~ at 105~C. and the mixture was stirred and heat-ed at 1.00-110Co for l hr~ The reaction mixture was then partially cooled and the polymeric product preci.pi.tated and isolated by adding ~uccessively two 15-ml~ portions i ~of methanolJ the mlxture was cooled to room ~empera~ure and .
- . ... . , . . ~ . . .. . .

~ ~7~

diluted with 300 ml. oI methanol to precipika~e the gra~t copolymer~ The polymer was isolated by filtra~ion and then washed successively in a blender twice ~th methanol, twice with water~ and then twice ~th methanol.
The vacuum--dried product (11.2 g~) sho~red DSC melti.ng endo-therms at 106 ~olefin peak) and 1~7 (amlde peak~9 and was molded into a 0~13 mm .~ilm which was clear, transparent and flexible~ indicating that an (~/MAnh~/CL graft co-. polymer had been f`ormedv The film had a ~ensile stren~th 1.0 ~T) of 143 kg./cm.2, an elongation (~) of 2~0 percent and a modulus (M~ of 1930 kg./cmO2~ and molded bars gaue flexural modulus (FM) kg./cm~2 of 2600 at 25, 127G at 600 : and 54~ at 100~ Nitrogen analysis indicated a CL/HA ~ontent of 21 percent by weigh~
~ The above procedure was repeated with 10 g. of the 95.~/4.2 E~.IAnh copolymer (I~ = 15) and 7~3 gO of the CL/HA oligomer (DP = 15) of Table VIII, Procedure BBBo The resulting (E~ ~nh~/CL graft copolymer analyzed for - 40 percent CL/H~; had DSC melting endotherms at 106 and 207; in 0.13 mm film showed T - 17~ Isg./cm.2~ E - ~7 percen~ and M = 4060 kg./cm.2; and molded bars gave flexur~l modulus kg./cm.2 values of 6190 at 25, 2390 at 600 and 1400 a~ 100C~
B. .

A 40~gO sample of 95~ 2 ~/r~nh copolymer (Ml - 15~ was ~rorked under a stream of nitrogen on a 2-rol.l mill with electrically heated 76.2 mm rolls hea~ed to 205 until the copolymer was molten. Finely divided CL/HA
.30 oligomer (9~7 gO~ DP = 10; prepared as in Table VIII~ -Procedure DDD) was sprinkled into the moltcn po].ym~r and ~5~

~ ,,,, .,, ,", . ,, ", ~, " . . .. ... .. .

~ 7~D ~ 4 5 milling continued for about 6 minutes. The milled prcduct (~ g~) was tllen rc;noved and cooled. Analysis showecl a CL/~A c~ntent of 19 percent by ~reight~ It formed pressed 0.13 ~n films at 240~2600 which were clear9 transparent~
pliable aIld creasable~ and which showed presence of amide and anhydride structure by infrared spectroscop~f~
Fi~m ~ests showed T of 135 kg~/cm,2~ E of 306 percent and M of Zl~0 kg.~cm.2.
The above procedure was repeated with the same E~ h copol~merJ various CL/~IA oligomers and different mill temperaturesO All of the products gave clear~
transparent films, indicating positive formation of graIted ~F~qAnh)/(C~/HA) copolymer. The data are presented in Table XVI.

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.
.
., ' ' '.

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.:
, ~6 . .
~ .
.. . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. ... . .
, -, - , , - , . .

~C17q~ 5 ~n~ O ~o o ,~
~o O r~
o o o ~o o o o o o o ~\~ u~
~ ~o~
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~n ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 ~0 ~
~ \ I C`~ ~ O

, c ~¦ ~ ' t- ~ ~ .

cd ~ ~e~ ~o ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~
S~~C) I ~ O
-~ ~ ~ 1 N ~1 ~ .~ ^ ~
~- ~ h O

h j ~ v O N C~l ,0~ h ~ jh ~ 2 K
a)~ _ o l-i o ~ ~0 ~ 4 -~ a ~ a ~ ~0 . ~ l I o o o o o o . ~ ~ _, o o o' o o o ~ o o .. , . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ E~

~7_ .

C. Extru ~XAMPLE 69 __ A 65/35 mixture of 93~g/6~2 ~/MAnh copolymer (MI = 5.1) and CL/HA oligomer (DP - 7; Table VIII, Pro cedure AAA) was put through a twin screw mixing extruder at 225~ the throughput time being about L~ minutesO The extrudate was a clear melt9 indicating that the grafting reaction had gone well in a single pass~ The product show-ed a flexural modulus of 2030 kgO/cmO2. Torsion modulus values (dynes/cm2 x 10 9~ at various temperatures were as follows~ 12.4 at ~1~0; ~O0 at -100; 5,1 at -50; 2.3 at 0; 1037 at 209 0~61 at 50; 0016 at 100; 000~ at 150c The above procedure was used to prepare additional (E/MAnh)/CL graft copolymers, the data being presented in Table XVII~

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c,~ ¦ N ~ ~. i C`~

'`b ~' 1 oo co ~O
'~ ! ~
o o o ' ~, ~ ~ ~' 1 O I h ~ o ¦ ~1 u ~ ~1 ~ ~~ 0~ o .~
~ ~~

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r~ ~ _ ~ u~ t, h $

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~ ~rC ~ ~ td ~

_~9--., . ; , . . ,, ~ ~, -~7~ 5 EXAMPLE Z~
n~ Et~ ~Ialeat ~ lactam Gra _ ~e lymer A m.ixture of 1~ g~ of 91/9 ethylene/monoethyl ester of maleic acid (E/M~) copolymer and 5~1 g~ of CL/HA oligomer (DP - 6~7) was milled on a. two roll mill as in ~xample 6~ The resulti.ng (~I~ ~)/CL graft co~
polymer could be rolled out in a cold mill to fo~n a flexible shee~ It analyzed for a CL/HA content. of 22 p~rcent. Torsion modulus values (dynes/cm.2 x 10 93 at various temperatures: llo9 a-t -1~0; 904 at ~100; ~o2 at -50; 5~2 at 0; 30g a~ 20; 2.6 at 50; 0090 a~ lOO~y 0.1~.
at 150~.
~ ' . ~B , .
h~lene/Butyl Itaconate)~Caproiac am Gra.ft Co~ol,~ner ~ Following generally the solution procedure Or .; Example 67~ 7 g. Or ~.3/11~7 ethylene/monobut~l ester of itaconic acid.(E/BuIt) copolymer was dissolved in 100 ml.
o~ toiuene at 100-115, 2S mlO of ~ ~ was addedS and then ; . a solution of 3.7 g. of CL/HA oligomer .~DP - 6~7~ in 75 ml.
Or HMP was added in one portion with vigorous sti.rrinOc .Stirring and heating was continued for 1025 hours9 and the graft copolymer was then precipitated and isolated througl addition of ~00 ml. of methanol. The product (~.2 gO) analyzed for a CL/HA content of 23 percent by weight.
Films pressed at 235-240 were clear9 transparent and :-flexible.

Following the solution procedure of Example 67 series of (~/MAnh)/LL graft copolymers was prep~red9 The data are ~,iven in Table XVIII.

~90-. : ,. . . . .
.::: . ,: , .. .. . .

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u~ ~D ~O ~
Ç~ ~ ~ ~D ~ ~1 P ~ ~, V ~;
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~ H
~0 ~ ~ C> ~ C~
a) bD .~ $ ~
h ~ ~1 H ~1 -1 ~1 ~1 ~1 $~ ~ 0 H C O
H C) bD _ h O ~1 ~ ~ ~ ~ .
.
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li~ _ ~ . ~ IS~ O O O
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.. ... . .

~37~

, ~AMPI,~ ~3 An ethylene/maleic anhydride trunk copolymer was prepared which contained ~6.5- weight percent ethylene and 13.5 weight percent maleic anhydride. The copolymer was pumped by an extruder through a tube heated to about 500C. to reduce the molecular weight~ The melt viscosity was 600 centipoises at lL~QC. The average chain length was about 300 carbon atoms.
One gram of the trunk copolymer was reacted with 2 g. of the amine terminated caprolactam/lauro-lactarn oligomer of Procedure 00 in hot hexamethyl-phosphoramideO The solution was kept hot for about 5 minutes and then poured lnto rapidly stirred cold pentane to precipitate the polymer~ It was then filtered and washed with acetone to remove excess solvent and dried.
The trunk copolymer of the graft copolymer averages only about 3 amine-active sites per chain. The chain length of side chain polymer averages about 2/3 ;20 the length of the trunk copolymer. On the average three ide chaln polymers are attached to the trunk copolymer.

. .
. .
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; -92- ~

Claims (66)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Process for the preparation of thermoplastic graft copolymers which comprises heating for about 15 seconds to 60 minutes, with mixing, (1) a trunk copolymer of at least two monomers, at least one of said monomers providing amine-reactive sites taken from the group consisting of an anhydride group, a vicinal pair of carboxylic groups and a carboxylic group adjacent to an alkoxycarbonyl group, wherein the alkoxy group contains up to 20 carbon atoms, and at least one of said monomers containing no amine-reactive sites, and (2) at least one side chain polymer ranging in length from about 25 to l000 chain atoms, having per chain one active amine site taken from the group consisting of primary and secondary amines, the remainder of said side chain polymer being sub-stantially unreactive with the reactive sites of the trunk copolymer.

2. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the active amine site of the side chain polymer is a primary amine.

3. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the process is conducted in the melt.

4. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the process is conducted in solution.

5. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the heating temperature is above the melting points of the trunk copolymer and side chain polymer.

6. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the heating is conducted for about 15 seconds to 10 minutes.

7. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the trunk copolymer is derived from an .alpha.-olefin and at least one monomer providing amine-reactive sites taken from the group consisting of an anhydride, diacid and half-esters derived therefrom.

8. A process according to Claim 7 wherein the .alpha.-olefin is ethylene.

9. A process according to Claim 8 wherein there is present at least one additional polymerizable monomer which contains no amine-reactive sites and no anhydride reactive sites.

10. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the additional polymerizable monomer is 3-methylbutene.

11. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the additional polymerizable monomer is vinyl acetate.

12. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the additional polymerizable monomer is methyl acrylate.

13. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the additional polymerizable monomer is methyl methacrylate.

14. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the trunk copolymer is derived from styrene and at least one monomer providing amine-reactive sites taken from the group consisting of an anhydride, diacid and half-esters derived therefrom.

15. A process according to Claim 14 wherein there is present at least one additional polymerizable monomer containing no amine-reactive sites and no anhydride reactive sites.

16. A process according to Claim 7 wherein the monomer providing amine-reactive sites is maleic anhydride wherein the maleic anhydride is present in an amount Or 1.0 to 25.0 parts by weight.

17. A process according to Claim 14 wherein the monomer providing amine-reactive sites is maleic anhydride wherein the maleic anhydride is present in an amount of 1.0 to 30.0 parts by weight.

18. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene 9 monoalkyl maleate, wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

19. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene, monoalkyl fumarate wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

20. A process according to Claim 9 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene, monoalkyl itaconate wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

21. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the side chain polymer is selected from the group consisting of polymers of lactams containing 3 to 12 carbon atoms, copolymers of lactams containing 3 to 12 carbon atoms, polymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, copolymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, polymers of styrene, polymers of substituted styrenes, copolymers of styrene and substituted styrene, polymers of acrylates, polymers of methacrylates, copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates, and polymers of lactones.

22. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is a polycaprolactam.

23. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is a polylaurolactam.

24. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is a copolymer of caprolactam and laurolactam.

25. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is polyethylene oxide.

26. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is polypropylene oxide.

27. A process according to Claim 21 wherein a side chain polymer present is polystyrene.

28. A process according to Claim 21 wherein the side chain polymers are short chains having repeat units from about 5 to 50 in which at least 80 percent of the side chain polymers have one active amine site and the remainder of said side chain polymer is substantially unreactive with the amine-reactive sites on the trunk copolymer.

29. A process according to Claim 28 wherein the side chain polymers contain substituent alkyl groups of l to 18 carbon atoms.

30. A process according to Claim 28 wherein the side chain polymers contain substituent aryl groups.

31. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the trunk copolymers contain, on the average, about 300 to 50,000 chain atoms and the number of reactive sites occur, on the average, at a frequency of 1 to 50 sites per thousand chain atoms of the main chain.

32. A process according to Claim 31 wherein trunk copolymers contain, on the average, about 500 to 2,000 chain atoms of the main chain.

33. A process according to Claim 31 wherein the side chain polymer reactive with the amine-reactive sites on the trunk copolymer range in length from 25 to 1,000 chain atoms.

34. A thermoplastic graft copolymer consisting essentially of a trunk copolymer derived from at least two monomers, at least one of said monomers providing amine-reactive sites selected from the group consisting of an anhydride group, a vicinal pair of carboxylic groups and a carboxylic group adjacent to an alkoxy-carbonyl group, wherein the alkoxy group contains up to 20 carbon atoms, and at least one of said monomers con-taining no amine-reactive sites; and at least one type side chain polymer linked to said reactive sites through amide or imide linkages, said side chain polymer being derived from a short chain polymer having from about 5 to 50 repeat units and containing one active amine site selected from the group consisting of primary and secondary amines, the remainder of the side chain polymer being substantially unreactive with the amine-reactive sites of the trunk copolymer, with the proviso that when only one type of side chain polymer is present the side chain polymer contains only one nitrogen atom, said atom being found in the active amine site.

35. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34 wherein the trunk copolymer and side chain polymers are linked through imide linkages.

36. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34 wherein solely one type of side chain polymer is linked to the trunk copolymer, said side chain polymer being selected from the group consisting of polymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, copolymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, polymers of styrene, polymers of substituted styrenes, copolymers of styrene and substituted styrene, polymers of acrylates, polymers of methacrylates, copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates, and polymers of lactones.

37. A graft copolymer according to Claim 36 wherein the side chain polymer is polyethylene oxide.

38. A graft copolymer according to Claim 36 wherein the side chain polymer is polypropylene oxide.

39. A graft copolymer according to Claim 36 wherein the side chain polymer is a polymethacrylate.

40. A graft copolymer according to Claim 36 wherein the side chain polymer is a polyacrylate.

41. A graft copolymer according to Claim 36 wherein the side chain polymer is polystyrene.

42. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34 wherein at least two different type side chain polymers are present.

43. A graft copolymer according to Claim 42 wherein the side chain polymers are selected from the group consisting of polymers of lactams containing 3 to 12 carbon atoms, copolymers of lactams containing 3 to 12 carbon atoms, polymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, copolymers of organic oxides containing 2 to 16 carbon atoms, polymers of styrene, polymers of substituted styrenes, copolymers of styrene and substituted styrene, polymers of acrylates, polymers of methacrylates, copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates, and polymers of lactones.

44. A graft copolymer according to Claim 43 wherein the side chain polymers are polyethylene oxide and polycaprolactam.

45. A graft copolymer according to Claim 43 wherein the side chain polymers are polyethylene oxide and polymethyl methacrylate.

46. A graft copolymer according to Claim 43 wherein the side chain polymers are polystyrene and polyethylene oxide.

47. A graft copolymer according to Claim 43 wherein the side chain polymers are polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate.

48. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34.
wherein the trunk copolymer is derived from ethylene and at least one monomer providing amine-reactive sites taken from the group consisting of an anhydride, diacid and half-esters derived therefrom.

49. A graft copolymer according to Claim 48 wherein there is present at least one additional polymerizable monomer which contains no amine-reactive sites and no anhydride reactive sites.

50. A graft copolymer according to Claim 48 wherein the side chain is polyethylene oxide.

51. A graft copolymer according to Claim 48 wherein the side chain is a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyacrylate, polymethacrylate or copolymers thereof.

52. A graft copolymer according to Claim 48 wherein the monomer providing amine-reactive sites is maleic anhydride wherein the maleic anhydride is present in an amount of 1.0 to 25 parts by weight.

53. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34 wherein the trunk copolymer is derived from styrene and at least one monomer providing amine-reactive sites taken from the group consisting of an anhydride, diacid and half-esters derived therefrom.

54. A graft copolymer according to Claim 53 wherein there is present at least one additional polymerizable monomer containing no amine-reactive sites and no anhydride reactive sites.

55. A graft copolymer according to Claim 53 wherein the monomer providing amine-reactive sites is maleic anhydride wherein the maleic anhydride is present in an amount of 1.0 to 30 parts by weight.

56. A graft copolymer according to Claim 49 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene, monoalkyl maleate, wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

57. A graft copolymer according to Claim 49 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene, monoalkyl fumarate wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

58. A graft copolymer according to Claim 49 wherein the trunk copolymer is composed of ethylene, monoalkyl itaconate wherein alkyl is in the range of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, in addition to an additional polymerizable monomer.

59. A graft copolymer according to Claim 34 wherein the trunk copolymer contains, on a number average, about 300 to 50,000 chain atoms and the number of reactive sites occur, on the average, at a frequency of about 1 to 200 reactive sites per thousand chain atoms of the trunk copolymer, there being on the average at least about one active site per trunk copolymer chain.

60. A graft copolymer according to Claim 59 wherein the trunk copolymer contains, on the average, about 500 to 2,000 chain atoms.

61. A graft copolymer according to Claim 59 wherein any side chain polymer reactive with the amine-reactive sites on the trunk copolymer range in length from 25 to 1,000 chain atoms.

62. A blend of a graft copolymer according to Claim 50 with fiber-forming polypropylene.

63. A blend of a graft copolymer according to Claim 51 with polyvinyl chloride.

64. A blend of a graft copolymer according to Claim 51 with a polymethacrylate.

65. A blend of a graft copolymer according to Claim 51 with a combination of polyvinyl chloride and polymethacrylate.

66. A blend of a graft copolymer prepared according to the process of Claim 24 with at least one wood rosin selected from the group consisting of wood rosin, hydrogenated wood rosin, polymerized wood rosin, polymerized hydrogenated wood rosin and esters of said rosins.