Acrylonitrile bulk polymerization, kinetic features

Poly(acrylic acid) is not soluble in its monomer and in the course of the bulk polymerization of acrylic acid the polymer separates as a fine powder. The conversion curves exhibit an initial auto-acceleration followed by a long pseudo-stationary process ( 3). This behaviour is very similar to that observed earlier in the bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile. The non-ideal kinetic relationships determined experimentally in the polymerization of these two monomers are summarized in Table I. It clearly appears that the kinetic features observed in both systems are strikingly similar. In addition, the poly(acrylic acid) formed in bulk over a fairly broad range of temperatures (20 to 76°C) exhibits a high degree of syndiotacticity and can be crystallized readily (3). 

Comparison of the kinetic features observed in the bulk polymerization of acrylic acid and acrylonitrile... 

The bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile has been studied by numerous workers (for a literature survey on the problem see ref. j O and JL1J. The kinetic features of this reaction at room temperature are summarized in Table I. It is one of the typical examples of polymerization under heterogeneous conditions in which the anomalies are generally assumed to arise as a result of non-stationary conditions caused by the "occlusion" of growing chains in the precipitated polymer (10). The presence of occluded radicals was indeed demonstrated by 5R measurements (12) and by... 

The cfata presented in Table I show that the kinetic features of the bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile are very similar to those observed with acrylic acid. It therefore seems pertinent to query whether atrix effect could not arise in the polymerization of acrylonitrile through a regular orientation of monomer molecules along the polymeric matrix involving dipole interaction of the -CsN groups (structure IV). 

The bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile in this range of temperatures exhibits kinetic features very similar to those observed with acrylic acid (cf. Table I). The very low over-all activation energies (11.3 and 12.5 Kj.mole-l) found in both systems suggest a high temperature coefficient for the termination step such as would be expected for a diffusion controlled bimolecular reaction involving two polymeric radicals. It follows that for these systems, in which radicals disappear rapidly and where the post-polymerization is strongly reduced, the concepts of nonsteady-state and of occluded polymer chains can hardly explain the observed auto-acceleration. Hence the auto-acceleration of acrylonitrile which persists above 60°C and exhibits the same "autoacceleration index" as at lower temperatures has to be accounted for by another cause. 

Mechanism of Reaction. The mechanism of acrylonitrile polymerization is intriguing and has been much studied in recent years. Bulk polymerization exhibits untisual kinetic features attributable to the fact that polymer is insoluble in the monomer. This leads to enrichment of the remaining monomer with respect fo catalyst and to interference with the normal processes of chain growth and termination. Some of the growing radicals become buried in the solid phase, and their presence can be detected by physical means or by their subsequent activity in radical reactions. If the reaction is carried out in homc eneous solution (e.g., in di-... 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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