GRAFTED CHAIN AS SPACER FOR AN INSOLUBLE POLYMER CATALYST

Insoluble polymer catalysts are more favorable from the viewpoint of recovery of the catalysts and of the products, although the catalytic activity of the insoluble catalyst is usually lower than that of the soluble one. We have studied the improvement of the catalytic activity of the insoluble catalyst by the introduction of grafted chain as spacer between the insoluble matrix and the functional group. The catalytic activity was improved with the introducing grafted chain as spacer, especially markedly at higher percent grafting. In the present experiment, a polystyrene-grafted crosslinked polystyrene bead was prepared with the same method and then sulfonated. The catalytic activity of the obtained sulfonated polystyrene bead on the hydrolysis of sucrose was examined to investigate the effect of grafted chain as spacer on the catalytic activity.