Alternating olefin-carbon monoxide copolymers and their derivatives. Preparation and characterization by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS)

Alternating copolymers of carbon monooxide and olefins (ethylene, styrenes and norbornadienes) and their modified polymers with primary amines, P2S5 and P2O5 were prepared. These were then pyrolyzed at 550°C for 10 s in a Py-GC/MS system. In each pyrolysis, hydrocarbons arising from the corresponding olefin comonomer were detected as the volatile products. Py-GC/MS confirmed that these 1,4-arrangements of the ketonic groups in the alternating copolymers were converted into pyrrole-, thiophene-, or furan-containing chains with primary amines, P2S5 or P2O5, respectively. The oxygen-containing groups, which remained intact during the modification with P2S5, were detected in small amounts in the pyrolysates. While the pyrolysis of poly(dimethyl 7-oxabicyclo[2,2,1]hepta-2,5-diene-2,3-dicarboxylate) yielded benzene (derived from an acetylene triad formed by the retro-Diels Alder reaction), its alternating copolymer with carbon monoxide did not yield benzene upon pyrolysis.