Adv Polym Sci (2013) 261: 211–216
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_247
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 27 November 2013
Crosslinking with Hermann Staudinger
Fred Wudl
Abstract The key to the concept of re-mendable covalently bonded polymers
developed in our group is a polymerization/crosslinking reaction discovered by
Staudinger and later applied, partially, by Stille. This account gives the historical
perspective on our results based on the Staudinger cyclopentadiene polymerization
and crossing paths with Staudinger in personal life.
Keywords Cyclopentadiene Á Polyesters Á Reversible polymerization
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
2 Prolog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3 Herman Staudinger and Re-Mending Crosslinked Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4 Epilog, Hermann Staudinger’s Niece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
1 Introduction
I have crossed paths with Hermann Staudinger twice in my career. Once, understandably, as our research group developed self-mending polymers and a literature
search revealed the 1926 paper by Staudinger and Bruson (see below). The second
encounter was entirely serendipitous and will be explained later. The account is
divided into three sections: “Prolog,” “Hermann Staudinger and re-mending
crosslinked polymers,” and “Epilog, Hermann Staudinger’s niece”.
F. Wudl (*)
Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
e-mail: wudl@chem.ucsb.edu
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_247
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 27 November 2013
Crosslinking with Hermann Staudinger
Fred Wudl
Abstract The key to the concept of re-mendable covalently bonded polymers
developed in our group is a polymerization/crosslinking reaction discovered by
Staudinger and later applied, partially, by Stille. This account gives the historical
perspective on our results based on the Staudinger cyclopentadiene polymerization
and crossing paths with Staudinger in personal life.
Keywords Cyclopentadiene Á Polyesters Á Reversible polymerization
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
2 Prolog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3 Herman Staudinger and Re-Mending Crosslinked Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4 Epilog, Hermann Staudinger’s Niece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
1 Introduction
I have crossed paths with Hermann Staudinger twice in my career. Once, understandably, as our research group developed self-mending polymers and a literature
search revealed the 1926 paper by Staudinger and Bruson (see below). The second
encounter was entirely serendipitous and will be explained later. The account is
divided into three sections: “Prolog,” “Hermann Staudinger and re-mending
crosslinked polymers,” and “Epilog, Hermann Staudinger’s niece”.
F. Wudl (*)
Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
e-mail: wudl@chem.ucsb.edu