Preparation of two kinds of chloromethylated polystyrene particle using 1,4-bis (chloromethoxy) butane as chloromethylation reagent

By adopting “grafting from” manner, polystyrene was grafted onto the surface of silica gel particles with an average size of 125 μm in a solution polymerization system, and grafted particle PSt/SiO₂ was prepared. Using 1,4-bis (chloromethoxy) butane (BCMB, it is nontoxic.) as chloromethylation reagent, chloromethylation reaction for the grafted particle PSt/SiO₂ was performed in the presence of Lewis acid catalyst SnCl₄. At the same time, cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer (CPS) microsphere also was chloromethylated with the same reagent as PSt/SiO₂, so that two kinds of chloromethylated polystyrene particles were obtained, and they are chloromethylated grafted particle (CMPS/SiO₂) and chloromethylated cross-linked polystyrene (CMCPS) microsphere, respectively. The chemical structures and compositions of the two particles were characterized using Fourier transform infrared and Volhard method. The effects of various factors on the chloromethylation reactions were mainly investigated. The experimental results show that the process to prepare the two kinds of chloromethylated polystyrene particles not only has the character of environment friendness and low cost but also is convenient to control via adjusting various reaction conditions. The main reaction conditions affecting the chloromethylation reactions are reaction time, the added amount of BCMB, and the used amount of solvent and catalyst. They influence the reaction in two respects: (1) the chloromethylation degrees of polystyrene are different under different conditions; (2) Friedel–Crafts cross-linking reaction between polystyrene macromolecules is accelerated or inhibited under different conditions (for CPS microsphere, this cross-linking reaction also is called the additional cross-linking). Under suitable conditions, the two kinds of chloromethylated polystyrene particles with a high chlorine content (about 17%, this chlorine content was calculated based on polystyrene weight) can be gained using SnCl₄ as catalyst and CH₂Cl₂ as solvent at room temperature for 10 h and basically without cross-linking or additional cross-linking.