Patent ID: 7728082

Claim:
A process for the production of a poly(hydroxystyrene) consisting of the steps of: a) providing a phenolic having the general structure: wherein R 1 , R 3 , and R 5 are H, OH, or OCH 3 ; R 2 , and R 4 are H, OH, OCH 3 or linear or branched alkyl; R 6 and R 7 are H, halo, or cyano, provided that at least one of R 1 , R 3 , or R 5 is OH, and that R 2 , and R 4 are not both simultaneously t-butyl; b) providing a first reaction mixture comprising: i) a non-amine basic catalyst; and ii) at least one first polar organic solvent e) contacting the phenolic of (a) with the reaction mixture of (b) at a temperature and for a time sufficient for the decarboxylation of the phenolic substrate to form a stable decarboxylated hydroxystyrene intermediate, and f) contacting the decarboxylated hydroxystyrene intermediate with a second polar organic solvent and a polymerization initiator at a temperature and time sufficient to produce a poly(hydroxystyrene), with the proviso that: the phenolic is selected from the group consisting of 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, sinapinic acid, caffeic acid, 2-hydroxycinnamic acid, 3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, and α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, the non-amine basic catalyst is selected from the group consisting of potassium acetate, potassium carbonate, potassium hydroxide, sodium acetate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and magnesium oxide; and the first and second polar organic solvents are independently selected from the group consisting of N,N-dimethylformamide 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, hexamethylphosphoramide, and hexamethylphosphorous triamide.