Grafting on poly(ether ether ketone ketone)s (PEEKK) by anionic deactivation

A simple method to synthesize new comb-type polymers with a poly(ether ether ketone ketone) (PEEKK) backbone is presented. The central step is the anionic deactivation of the carbonyl groups by living anions of polystyrene (PS) or polyisoprene, resulting in a PEEKK-g-polystyrene or PEEKK-g-polyisoprene, respectively. Herein, the influence of different degrees of grafting on the polymer properties is studied by DSC measurements. In model reactions it is shown that the addition of small anions to the carbonyl groups occurs quantitatively. However, grafting of the living anion of polystyrene or polyisoprene is limited to a conversion of 30%.