Macromolecules, Vol.33, No.5, 1664-1670, 2000
Microstructures of butadiene copolymers determined by ozonolysis/MALDI mass spectrometry
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry of ozonolysis degradation products was used to determine the microstructures of several butadiene copolymers. A random styrene-butadiene copolymer containing 45 wt % styrene was distinguished from a block (ABA) styrene-butadiene copolymer containing 38 wt % styrene. In addition, several acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymers with acrylonitrile contents ranging from 21 to 51 wt % were analyzed. The microstructures for the acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymers were confirmed to be fairly random. Quantitatively, the acrylonitrile compositions determined by ozonolysis/MALDI-MS were close to the reported values for these copolymers (typically within 5 wt %). The discrepancy between the reported and experimentally obtained compositions may be attributed, in part, to a composition bias arising from the ozonolysis process. A simple model for ozonolysis of a random copolymer was developed to investigate the effects of ozone exposure time on the oligomer distributions observed in the MALDI mass spectra.
Keywords:LASER-DESORPTION IONIZATION;TIME-OF-FLIGHT;COLLISION INDUCEDDISSOCIATION;SIZE-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY;BLOCK LENGTHDISTRIBUTIONS;STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION;HYDROCARBONPOLYMERS;THERMAL-DEGRADATION;METHYL-METHACRYLATE;CATIONATTACHMENT