SOLUBLE POLYMER-SUPPORTED CATALYSTS CONTAINING PENDANT QUATERNARY ONIUM SALT RESIDUES FOR REGIOSELECTIVE ADDITION-REACTION OF EPOXY COMPOUND WITH ACTIVE ESTER

Various soluble polymer-supported catalysts containing pendant quaternary onium salts were synthesized by the radical copolymerization of p-chloromethylated styrene with styrene followed by the addition reaction of the resulting copolymers with tributylamine or trialkylphosphines. The catalytic activity of the soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salts on the regioselective addition reaction of phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE) with S-phenyl thioacetate (PTA) was evaluated from the rates of the reaction and yields of the product, 1-phenoxy-3-(phenylthio)-2-propyl acetate (PPA). The catalytic activity was strongly affected by the content of pendant quaternary onium salt in the polymer chains, by the structure of onium salt residues, and by the reaction solvents used. The polymer-supported catalyst having small amounts of pendant benzyltributylphosphonium chloride residue showed the highest catalytic activity in DMF. Furthermore, it was proved from the kinetic data that the rate of addition reaction of epoxy compound with active ester in homogeneous systems using soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salt as a catalyst was proportional to the concentration of catalyst [Cat.] and the concentration of epoxy compound [PGE] as follows: d[PPA]/dt = k(2)[Cat.][PGE], where [PPA] is the concentration of the product and k(2) is the second-order rate constant. Furthermore, on the basis of these kinetic results, the reaction mechanism of epoxy compound with active ester catalyzed by the soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salts can now be elucidated.