Synthesis Of Styrene Dimer And Trimer

Polystyrene model molecules, as simplified model of polystyrene, are an effect-tive tool for investigating the changes of configurations and conformations of thepolymer chain and polymer glass transition by infrared spectroscopy.This paper focus on exploring the synthesis method of styrene dimer and trimerby Wurtz coupling reaction and Kumada coupling reaction.1,4-diphenylbutane can besuccessfully synthesis by Wurtz coupling reaction with Mn/CuCl₂as a catalyticsystem.1,3-diphenylbutane can be synthesized when using benzyl bromide and1-iodi-2-phenylpropane as substrates, and the byproducts can be separated by vacuumdistillation. Wurtz-type coupling reaction is a better method to synthesis PS modelmolecules with symmetrical structure.1,3-diphenylbutane can be synthesized by Kumada cross coupling reaction.Compared with other substrates,1,3-dibromobutane and phenylmagnesium bromideare the best substrates for Kumada cross coupling reaction and Fe（acac）₃/TMEDAperform a good catalytic effect. This method become the most promising means to getother PS model molecules with asymmetric structure.