Systematically Controlled Decomposition Mechanism in Phosphorus Flame Retardants by Precise Molecular Architecture: P–O vs P–N

Flame retardants (FR) are inevitable additives to many plastics. Halogenated organics are effective FRs but are controversially discussed due to the release of toxic gases during a fire or their persistence if landfilled. Phosphorus-containing compounds are effective alternatives to halogenated FRs and have potential lower toxicity and degradability. In addition, nitrogen-containing additives were reported to induce synergistic effects with phosphorus-based FRs. However, no systematic study of the gradual variation on a single phosphorus FR containing both P–O and P–N moieties and their comparison to the respective blends of phosphates and phosphoramides was reported. This study developed general design principles for P–O- and P–N-based FRs and will help to design effective FRs for various polymers. We synthesized a library of phosphorus FRs that only differ in their P-binding pattern from each other and studied their decomposition mechanism in epoxy resins. Systematic control over the decomposition pathways of phosphate (P═O(OR)3), phosphoramidate (P═O(OR)2(NHR)), phosphorodiamidate (P═O(OR)(NHR)2), phosphoramide (P═O(NHR)3), and their blends was identified, for example, by reducing cis-elimination and the formation of P–N-rich char with increasing nitrogen content in the P-binding sphere. Our FR epoxy resins can compete with commercial FRs in most cases, but we proved that the blending of esters and amides outperformed the single-molecule amidates/diamidates due to distinctively different decomposition mechanisms acting synergistically when blended.