Photoactive liquid polysulfides: preparation, characterisation, photocuring and potential applications

Photoactive terminal groups X have been introduced into liquid polysulfides to give X(SCH2CH2OCH2OCH2CH2S)nX where X=acetyl, acryloyl, cinnamoyl, benzoyl, I-naphthaloyl, oxalyl, p-toluene sulfonyl, terephthaloyl, 1,3,5-benzene tricarbonyl and methylvinylsilyl. The resulting modified LPs have been characterised by IR, UV, 1NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography and ESI and FAB mass spectrometry. The results of photoirradiating these materials were examined and some selected for further study with regard to their potential application as coatings, adhesives and photoresists, both as such and as components of formulations. While the slowness of cure of the modified LPs presents a difficulty, they function satisfactorily as components of established photocurable compositions, conferring advantages in a number of cases (scratch resistance, speed of cure, hardness).