Molecular and crystalline structure of 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane dimethacrylate, 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane diacrylate, pyrocatechol diacrylate, and hydroquinone diacrylate: Reactivity in melts

The X-ray diffraction analysis of 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane dimethacrylate, 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane diacrylate, pyrocatechol diacrylate, and hydroquinone diacrylate has shown that oligomer molecules within crystals are packed in stacks, where (meth)acrylate fragments of neighboring molecules are parallel to each other. The minimum distances between the centers of double bonds C=C of (meth)acrylate fragments in 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane dimethacrylate, 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane diacrylate, pyrocatechol diacrylate, and hydroquinone diacrylate are 4.208, 4.012, 3.621, and 3.739 describing the reduced rate of photopolymerization of molten monomers (with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone used as a photoinitiator) versus conversion show maxima at degrees of polymerization of 8, 16, 22, and 38%; the limiting conversions are 29, 36, 44, and 86%, respectively. The maximum reduced rates of photopolymerization of 2,2-di(phenyl-4-ol)propane dimethacrylate and diacrylate are nearly the same, whereas the rates of photopolymerization of hydroquinone diacrylate and pyrocatechol diacrylate are higher by a factor of 4 than those of the corresponding dimethacrylates.