SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND CURING OF WELL-DEFINED ALLYL ETHER-MALEATE FUNCTIONAL ESTER OLIGOMERS - LINEAR VERSUS NONLINEAR STRUCTURES

A series of allyl ether-maleate functional star-shaped esters with from one to four arms has been synthesized. The structures that have been made are an analogous series with increasing molecular weight and functionality where the increase in molecular weight has been made nonlinear, i.e., star-shaped. The resins are monodisperse in the sense that each arm has a well-defined structure and that, within a certain sample, only one type of molecule exists. The viscosity and rheological behavior of the resins have been studied. The curing kinetics of the star-shaped (branched) resins and the properties of the films formed have also been studied. These properties have been related to differences in functionality and to differences in the molecular architecture of the resins.