Merrifield Resin is a

cross-link In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond or a short sequence of bonds that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural ...

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...

resin that carries a chloromethyl functional group. Merrifield resin is named after its inventor,

Robert Bruce Merrifield Robert Bruce Merrifield (July 15, 1921 – May 14, 2006) was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984 for the invention of solid phase peptide synthesis. Early life He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on 15 July 1921, ...

(1984 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry), and used in

solid-phase synthesis In chemistry, solid-phase synthesis is a method in which molecules are covalently bound on a solid support material and synthesised step-by-step in a single reaction vessel utilising selective protecting group chemistry. Benefits compared with ...

. The material is typically available as white beads. These beads are allowed to swell in suitable solvents (ethyl acetate, DMF, DMSO), which then allows the reagents to substitute the chloride substituents.Vaino, Andrew R.; Janda, Kim D. "Solid-Phase Organic Synthesis: A Critical Understanding of the Resin" Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry 2000, volume 2, 579-596. Merrifield Resin can be prepared by

chloromethylation The Blanc chloromethylation (also called the Blanc reaction) is the chemical reaction of aromatic rings with formaldehyde and hydrogen chloride to form chloromethyl arenes. The reaction is catalyzed by Lewis acids such as zinc chloride. The reac ...

of polystyrene or by the copolymerization of

styrene Styrene () is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5CH=CH2. This derivative of benzene is a colorless oily liquid, although aged samples can appear yellowish. The compound evaporates easily and has a sweet smell, although high concen ...

and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride.François Dardel, Thomas V. Arden "Ion Exchangers" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2008, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

References

Copolymers Plastics {{Material-stub