I was wondering what polymerization reactions BPA is involved in to make plastics.Could you explain the specific steps of each reaction to make the plastic?Thanks!
The reaction of BPA to make polycarbonate is given here:
What drwho said, but also BPA reacts with epichlorhydrin to form the diepoxy ether. This liquid can be reacted with a variety of other monomers to form polymers (plastics). Commonly it is reacted with amines, amides, mercaptans and anhydrides. It can also react with itself. Typically the epoxy ring opens and the oxirane oxygen takes a hydrogen from the donor (amine, etc.) and a C-N, C-S, etc. bond is formed. As long as both the epoxy monomer and the donor molecule are difunctional (at least) a high mw plastic will generally be formed. Usually for many applications the functionality of either or both components is higher than 2 so that a highly cross-linked material is formed. Epoxy ring-opening has the advantage of having less mechanical stresses due to the formation of covalent linkages - the ring opening reduces shrinkage compared to other polymerization mechanisms.
