Histamine, an effective initiator for the synthesis of polysulfides

Abstract

The synthesis of polysulfides from thioepoxides traditionally makes use of toxic organometallic initiators. We demonstrate the use of histamine as an efficient initiator. The polymerization can be carried out under solvent-free and metal-free conditions at mild temperature to obtain high-quality polysulfides. A synergistic acid and base catalysis mechanism is proposed. The results enable a safer and cleaner production of next-generation polymers.