Preparation of polyvinylamine from polyacrylamide: a reinvestigation of the hofmann reaction

The Hofmann modification of polyacrylamide to yield vinylamine homo- or copolymers was reinvestigated in order to determine the real scope of a procedure of great potential interest in polymer chemistry. The conditions of the treatment by sodium hypochlorite followed by concentrated sodium hydroxide at low temperature (0 o C) were adjusted to avoid or to limit side-reactions between pendant reactive groups. A broad range of initial mole ratio a of sodium hypochlorite per initial amide function (0,05<α<1,10) was explored. The reported procedure allows to prepare in excellent yield water-soluble polymers of controlled vinylamine content