EFFICIENT, ONE-POT SYNTHESIS OF SUSPENSION CROSS-LINKED SULFONATED POLYSTYRENE VIA A FRIEDEL CRAFTS REACTION

A suspension technique leading to macronet ionic resins is described based on a single reactor process. The procedures demonstrate sulfuric acid as a polar suspending medium that can act as a sulfonating agent, a Friedel-Crafts catalyst, and a crosslinking agent. The sulfonation reaction was finally completed using sulfuric acid excess, or oleum 65%. High yields were obtained for the crosslinking and the sulfonation reaction, while the final products were characterized by using ion-exchange capacity measurements, U.V. spectra, and determination of the degree of crosslinking. The number average molecular weight between crosslinks and the ion-exchange capacity H+ --> Na+ of the resins was decreasing by increasing the nominal crosslinking ratio.