Influence of tert-amine groups on the solubility of polymers in CO2

There is a need to develop new, non-fluorous polymers that are highly soluble in CO2. Experimental evidence indicates that tertiary amine and pyridine groups may exhibit favorable Lewis acid–Lewis base type interactions with CO2. It is therefore reasonable to assume that incorporation of tertiary amines into the side chain or backbone of non-fluorous polymers may impart a degree of CO2-solubility to the polymer. We present experimental results for eight different tert-amine-containing polymers. Of these polymers, only propyl dimethylamine-functionalized poly(dimethylsiloxane) is soluble in CO2 at temperatures and pressures accessible in our experiments, but even this polymer is less soluble than non-functionalized poly(dimethylsiloxane) at the same chain length. We have performed ab initio calculations on tertiary amine-containing moieties representative of some of the polymers examined experimentally. Our calculations confirm that amine–CO2 interactions are indeed energetically favorable. However, we also find that the moiety self-interactions are typically more favorable than the CO2-moiety interactions. This indicates that the lack of solubility of amine-containing polymers in CO2 is a direct result of strong polymer–polymer interactions.