Fluorination of polymers containing COOH/COOR groups with SF₄/HF, 1. Model reactions with low molecular weight compounds^†

Model studies with low molecular weight compounds are performed in order to evaluate the feasibility of synthesizing fluorine-containing polymers by modification of commercially available products. The conversion of COOH and COOR into CF₃ moieties by means of SF₄/HF is checked with the following low molecular weight models for poly(acrylic acid) and poly(acrylic ester)s: hexanoic acid (1), ethyl hexanoate (2), 2,4-dimethylglutaric acid (3), 4-carboxypimelic acid (4) and 2,2-diethylmalonic acid (5). For the model compounds, the reaction conditions have been optimized. The desired products are obtained in high yield and in high selectivity. Therefore, this type of reaction will be applied to the modification of polymers in the next step.