Study on esterification of acrylic phenolic resin by maleic anhydride and photocrosslinking properties of the alkali‐soluble product

Abstract An alkali‐soluble, photocrosslinkable polymer was synthesized by esterification of OH groups of acrylic phenolic resin with maleic anhydride. The OH groups were formed by the ring‐opening reaction of epoxy groups of epoxy phenolic resin with acrylic acid. The esterification conditions were studied. The results showed that it is better to use tetramethyl ammonium bromide as catalyst than N,N‐dimethylbenzylamine. The conversion of maleic anhydride in acetone can reach about 80% at 56°C for 4 h. The purified product was characterized by IR, DSC, and TGA. The product containing acrylate and maleic acid monoester groups, above a certain content, can be dissolved in 1% Na2CO3 solution. The photocrosslinkable properties of the product were investigated through selection of photoinitiator, accelarator, crosslinkable diluent monomer, etc. The acrylate and maleic acid monoester group‐containing phenolic resin exhibited very good photocrosslinking behavior, since it contains double bonds from both acrylate groups and maleic acid monoester groups. The activity of photoinitiator decreases in the order: isopropylthioanthraquinone > benzoin ethyl ether (BE) > anthraquinone (AQ) > benzophenone > Michel ketone (MK) > 2,2‐diethoxyacetophenone. The combination of some photoinitiators showed synergistic effects. The order of increasing activity for the accelerator is as follows: MK > ethyl p‐(dimethylamino)benzoate > N,N‐dimethylaniline > triethanolamine. The optimum diluent monomer is trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate. The gel content of the mixture of the resin and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate could reach 85% using the combined photoinitiators of BE and AQ under UV exposure for 120 s. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1607–1614, 2005