Ring-opening polymer and a process for production thereof

Details Ring-opening polymer and a process for production thereof Ring-opening polymer and a process for production thereof

1990-02-13

1997-02-04

Nagumo, Mark

Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser

Synthetic resins

Mixing of two or more solid polymers; mixing of solid...

526281, 526282, 526283, 526141, 525338, 525339, 525940, C08F 4642, C08F23206

Patent

active

055998828

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a novel ring-opening polymer and the hydrogenation product thereof which are excellent in thermal resistance and have well-balanced properties including transparency, water resistance, chemical resistance, solvent resistance, dielectric characteristic and mechanical properties such as rigidity. More specifically, it relates to a polycyclic norbornene-based ring-opening polymer and the hydrogenation product thereof, and to a process for production thereof.


BACKGROUND ART

Polymeric materials heretofore mainly used for optics are polymethyl methacrylate and polycarbonate. However, the former has a problem of high water absorption and the latter is insufficient in birefringence after injection molding. Accordingly, it is becoming difficult for them to meet the requirements for such materials that are becoming increasingly more severe.
In recent years, polymers based on polycyclic norbornene-type monomers have been developed as polymeric materials overcoming the above-mentioned problems. For example, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-open) No. 60-26024 describes that hydrogenation products of ring-opening copolymers of tetracyclododecenes and norbornenes or ring-opening polymers of tetracyclododecenes are excellent in transparency, water resistance and thermal resistance. Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-open) Nos. 60-168708 and 61-292601 disclose that addition polymers of either tetracyclododecenes or polycyclic norbornene-type monomers having more rings and .alpha.-olefins are excellent in transparency, thermal resistance, chemical resistance, water resistance, etc. Thus, polycyclic norbornene-based polymers have excellent properties for use as optical polymers. However, there are problems in that generally the monomers are hardly available and very expensive and that they are still limited in their variety.


DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors have made extensive study to develop a novel synthetic resin suited for use as optical polymer or the raw material therefor by using polycyclic norbornene-type monomers available more inexpensively. As a result, it has been found that ring-opening polymers obtainable by ring-opening polymerizing a polycyclic monomer of a specific structure, namely pentacyclopentadecadiene and/or pentacyclopentadecene together with other comonomers, particularly the hydrogenation products thereof, are excellent in thermal properties and have well-balanced properties including transparency, water resistance, chemical resistance, solvent resistance, dielectric characteristic, and mechanical properties such as rigidity, and are useful for use as various formed articles. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the above finding.
The "hydrogenation products of polycyclic norbornene-based ring-opening polymers" referred to in the present invention signify those in which at least 50% of the double bonds present in the main chain of said polymer have been hydrogenated. They are sometimes expressed as those in which at least 50% of the (C------ C) linkages constituting the main chain are single bonds. As a matter of course, double bonds present in other parts than the main chain may have been hydrogenized.


BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The first aspect of the present invention relates to a polycyclic norbornene-based ring-opening polymer which comprises [I] or the alkyl-substituted derivative thereof, and unit represented by the following formula [II], the alkyl-substituted derivative thereof, a repeating unit represented by the following formula [III], the alkyl-substituted derivative thereof or the alkylidene-substituted derivative thereof, and which polymer has an intrinsic viscosity [.eta.] of 0.01-20 dl/g as determined in toluene at 25.degree. C. ##STR2## wherein ------ denote a single bond or a double bond.
The second aspect of the present invention relates to a polycyclic norbornene-based ring-opening polymer which comprises or the alkyl-substituted derivative thereof, and u

REFERENCES:
patent: 3557072 (1971-01-01), Vergne et al.
patent: 4136247 (1979-01-01), Tenney
patent: 4380617 (1983-04-01), Minchak et al.
patent: 5011730 (1991-04-01), Tenney et al.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 9, No. 138 (C-286) [1861], 13th Jun. 1985; & JP-A-60 26 024 (Nippon Zeon K.K.) Feb. 8, 1985.
Database WPI, AN 76-65680x, Derwent Publications LTD, London, GB; & JP-A-51 080 400 (Nippon Oil K. K.) Jul. 14, 1976.

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