Lecture 16 - Isoprenoids, Rubber, and Tuning Polymer Properties. Isoprenoid or terpene natural products, that seem to be made from isoprene (2-methylbutadiene), are formed by oligomerization of
electrophilic isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). Latex, the polymer of IPP, became commercially important when Charles Goodyear, a New Haven native, discovered how to vulcanize rubber. Statistical mechanics explains
such curious properties of rubber as contraction upon heating when tightly stretched. Specific chemical treatment confers useful properties on a wide variety of polymers, including hair, synthetic rubber,
and plastics. The structure of copolymers demonstrates non-Hammond behavior and ionic character in the transition state for free-radical polymerization.
(from oyc.yale.edu)
Lecture 16 - Isoprenoids, Rubber, and Tuning Polymer Properties
Time
Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00]
1. IPP as the Carbon Electrophile in Isoprenoid Biosynthesis
[00:13:56]
2. Latex, Rubber, and Vulcanization
[00:20:14]
3. Understanding Vulcanization - Polymer Properties and Statistical Mechanics
[00:35:34]
4. Other Polymers and Their Properties
[00:38:22]
5. Synthetic Polymers and Free-Radical Copolymerization