Synthesis and characterization of novel colored polymers based on lawsone natural compound

The purpose of this paper is the expansion of new colored polymers based on lawsone. Polymers should be highly thermally stable in order to be colored materials. Also, their solubility and color intensity should be good enough. First, the hydroxyl group of lawsone was covalently linked to acryloyl chloride, abbreviated as LA. Free radical copolymerization of polymerizable derivative of lawsone with methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, and acrylonitrile was carried out using 2, 2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator at the temperature 80 °C. The colored polymers were then characterized by the UV/vis, FT-IR, and 1 H NMR spectroscopies; and DSC and TGA studies. These colored polymers exhibit a high degree of thermal stability.