The properties of chitosan degraded under hydrogen peroxide action is studied. Using FTIR spectroscopy, HPLC, and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, it is found that the oxidative destruction of chitosan is accompanied by the crosslinking reactions leading to formation of the insoluble fraction of polymer. The mechanism of the crosslinking process and production of chitosan capable of maintaining solubility for a long time are discussed.

With the use of EPR, UV–VIS, and IR spectroscopy, calorimetry, and elemental analysis, it has been found that radicals are spontaneously formed under the action of molecular bromine on the methyl acrylate (MA) monomer at low temperatures; upon heating the system (225 K), these radicals initiate a polymerization reaction. This process is not efficient. The addition of bromine at the double bond of MA is the main reaction that occurs during the heating of the system (225 K).

The regularities of formation of the structure of amphiphilic network copolymers on radical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide and polyester dimethacrylate are investigated. The kinetic laws of the consumption of functional groups and the increase in the gel content during formation of a crosslinked product are studied. It is shown that the synthesis of crosslinked amphiphilic copolymers proceeds via competing reactions of N-isopropylacrylamide homopolymerization and its copolymerization with polyester dimethacrylate. With the excess of the monofunctional monomer, a homogeneous rubber-like network copolymer is formed, whereas the excess of the bifunctional reagent results in the morphological inhomogeneity of the reaction product.

The formation of star-like N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) polymeric structures in the presence of C-60 occurs in two steps. In the polymerization induction period, water-insoluble cores of future star-like polymers (SP) are formed. The cores are composed of one or more C-60 molecules linked by a C-C bond, five or six initiator radicals, and several short NIPA polymer-ic chains. The formation of SP begins after the induction period and continues until the end of polymerization through gradual growth of the polymeric layer at the cores. The solubility of SP in water is determined by a certain initial concentration of NIPA. It is suggested that the mechanism of these processes is determined by a dependence of C-60 reactivity on the degree of its "substitution".

New water-soluble starlike polymers with a fullerene core are synthesized via the radical polymerization of N -isopropylacrylamide in the presence of fullerene C 60 . The starlike structures of the polymers are studied by the methods of gel-permeation chromatography and scanning-electron microscopy.

Радикальной полимеризацией N-изопропилакриламида в присутствии [60]фуллерена синтезированы новые водорастворимые звездообразные полимеры с фуллереновым ядром. Звездообразное строение полимеров доказано методами гельпроникающей хроматографии и сканирующей электронной микроскопии.

By means of liquid chromatography, UV spectroscopy, calorimetry, and elemental analysis, it has been shown that the radicals generated spontaneously during low-temperature (77 K) mixing of the methyl acrylate (MA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomers with molecular chlorine initiate the MA and/or MMA oligomerization reaction. The oligomerization and chlorination reactions occur as the mixtures prepared at 77 K are heated, having the reaction onset temperature below the chlorine melting point (170 K) and a maximal rate in the MA premelting region (180–190 K) for the MA-Cl 2 mixture or the MMA melting range (220–230 K) for the MMA-Cl 2 mixture.

Silver nanoparticles stabilized by polystyrylmonocaboxylate ligands with varied chain lengths are synthesized via the low-temperature reduction of silver polystyrylmonocaboxylate with triethylamine. Silver nanoparticles have small dimensions, narrow size distributions, high stability, and ability to redisperse in nonpolar solvents. The kinetic features of the reaction are studied via high-performance liquid chromatography; UV, visible and IR spectroscopy; and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the reduction of silver occurs in the cores of reverse micelle species organized by diphilic macromolecules of silver polystyrylmonocarboxylates.

Poly(ester dimethacrylate) has been synthesized by condensation of the ɛ -caprolactone-based macromonomer and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate. Network copolymers of different compositions capable of swelling in water, THF, and toluene are obtained by the free-radical copolymerization of poly(ester dimethacrylate) with N -isopropylacrylamide or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. The rate constants and equilibrium swelling indices of network copolymers in these solvents are measured. The amphiphilic properties of the network copolymers can vary in a wide range depending on the composition of copolymers and the nature of a hydrophilic monomer. The copolymers of poly(ester dimethacrylate) with N -isopropylacrylamide are characterized by pronounced thermal sensitivity.

Water-soluble acrylamide monomers N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide, N-(hydroxymethyl)methacrylamide, N,N-diethanolacrylamide, N,N-diethanolmethacrylamide, N,N-methylethanolacrylamide, and N,N-methylethanolmethacrylamide have been synthesized and characterized. The kinetics and thermodynamics of the free-radical polymerization of these monomers and of the model compounds N-isopropylacrylamide and acrylamide have been studied by the methods of isothermal and scanning calorimetry. The structure and the solubility of the said polymers in water and organic solvents have been investigated and their molecular-mass characteristics and temperatures of glass transition (T g) and melting (T m) have been examined by DSC, liquid chromatography, 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy, and chemical analysis of functional groups. Hydrogels and amphiphilic network polymers based on acrylamide monomers have been prepared and characterized.

Kinetics of radical polymerization of individual components of the ethyl acrylate-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate-chain-transfer agent system and their mixtures in toluene was studied.

The selectivity with respect to N-acylation of the reactions of N, N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine and N-methyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amine with acryloyl and methacryloyl chlorides was examined.

The selectivity with respect to N-acylation of the reactions of N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine and N-methyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amine with acryloyl and methacryloyl chlorides was examined.

The methacrylate: branching agent: chain growth regulator optimal ratios that allow the synthesis of branched polymethacrylates via the crosslinking free-radical copolymerization under the regime of conventional or catalytic chain transfer have been estimated. Relationships between the molecular-mass characteristics of the copolymers, their content of intact C=C bonds, the composition of the starting monomer mixture, and the structure of the branching agent and polymer chain growth regulator have been established. The rheological properties of the branched MMA-based copolymers have been studied. It has been shown that the copolymers are characterized by a weaker dependence of reduced viscosity on the polymer concentration in solution than that for the linear PMMA. The diffusion-sorption behavior of the branched polymethacrylates is determined by the content of the branching agent in them.

A new preparative procedure for the synthesis of new bifunctional azo monomers with different ratios of methacryloyl and hydroxyl groups has been developed. The monomers thus prepared contain a nonlinear optical 4′-amino-4-nitroazobenzene group and can be involved in polymerization, polycondensation, and polymer-analogous transformation reactions to afford linear and network polymers. The free-radical copolymerization of 4′-[ N -methyl- N -(3-methacryloyloxy-2-hydroxypropyl)]amino-4-nitroazobenzene with methyl methacrylate has been studied with the aim of preparing azobenzene [1+0] prepolymers with pendant chromophore groups, and the reactivity ratios and reactivity factors of the comonomers have been calculated. The hydroxyl-containing copolymers are characterized by rather high molecular mass, satisfactory heat resistance and thermal stability, and good film-forming behavior. These copolymers may be crosslinked with the use of diisocyanates and thus may form thin optically homogeneous red films.