Calcium hydride methyl methacrylate

Laboratory reagent grade methyl methacrylate monomer was dried over powdered calcium hydride and freshly distilled before use. The checkers found that identical yields could be obtained when Matheson Coleman and Bell Chromatoquality methyl methacrylate monomer was used as received with no purification. 

Methyl methacrylate, toluene, and 1,2-dimethoxyethane are fractionated using a column, and finally distilled over calcium hydride into a receiver under dry nitrogen (see Sect.2.2.5.3). 

As noted in the introduction, the first successful studies of PCS near the glass transition in polymers employed thermally polymerized styrene. The monomer was dried over calcium hydride and vacuum distilled directly into the scattering cell. This procedure was also successfully employed to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA)28) and poly-(ethyl methacrylate)(PEMA)29). Although our own samples were all prepared without... 

Variable results were observed with other Michael acceptors. Addition to methyl methacrylate was successful using metal hydrides (sodium was faster than calcium) or butyl lithium, while addition to crotonate or maleate esters failed in our hands. NVF reacted violently with acrolein, resulting in polymers. 

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