Chemical Modification of Nitrile to Oxazoline Functionality on a Styrene-Acrylonitrile Copolymer in the Melt

Oxazoline is a very interesting functionality for reactive extrusion and other applications. In this paper, we report the possibility of chemically transforming nitrile group attached to a copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile (SAN) to oxazoline group using 2-amino-ethanol (AE). The chemical modification of SAN with AE was done in the molten state. Among various catalysts tested, zinc acetate turned out to be the most efficient. The effects of the catalyst concentration, temperature and mixing on the overall kinetics were studied. The formation of the expected oxazoline functionality was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and by reacting with 1-naphthylacetic acid. The reaction between the…