I've been doing hydrolyze a PtBA polymer into PAA. I found there are many researchers doing this with TFA in DCM solution of PtBA. However, I tried this method for several times, the solution of PtBA remained homogeneous or just a little heterogeneous after stirring for 24h, indicating an incomplete hydrolyze of PtBA. Does anyone have done this before? Is it easy to hydrolyze the tertiary-butyl groups on the main chain? Is there any tricks in it ? Thanks a lot!
Try to add anisol, it works as a trap for isobutylene - the reaction is reversible and it is better to catch the formed isobutylene.
Andrei's suggestion is a good one. If your situation doesn't allow for added anisole, you could switch to a higher-boiling solvent (e.g. dichloroethane) and sparge the reaction mixture with nitrogen or argon to remove the isobutylene.
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