Chain transfer and initiation

In other applications, phthalides 328-330 were added to the polymerization of MMA and styrene in an effort to add thermostability to the favorable properties of the vinyl polymers. The examples with Cl directly attached to the phthalide ring were found to act principally as chain-transfer agents. Nonhalogenated compounds participated in chain-transfer and initiation processes <2001MI37>. Aryl phthalides 331-333 have been employed as stabilizers for the processing of polymers to limit chain cleavage and oxidation <2001WO132762>. 

Figure 32A-D shows the effect of [ED] on PSt M and N at —20, —40, —60, and — 80 °C. All these figures indicate slow initiation (M higher than theoretical at low conversions), significant chain transfer to monomer M lower than theoretical at higher conversions), and significant initiation by H20 (see values extrapolated to zero conversion in the insets to the M vs C plots in Sect. 4.2.2.1). It is difficult to choose optimum conditions for the synthesis of high molecular weight PSts from these experiments because the effects on N of slow initiation on the one hand, and those of chain transfer and initiation by HzO on the other hand, are opposite. Increasing [TEA] seems to suppress chain transfer but the effect is insufficient to obtain well-controlled high MW PSt (See, also, the raw data in Tables 12-IS in the Appendix.) However, promising results were obtained in two experiments.

Scheme 16. Possible chemistry of chain transfer and initiation using organic hydroperoxides...

Example 9.7 Show the structures represented by x = 1 in Equation 9.42 for the polymerization of a vinyl monomer H2C=CHX. Assume no chain transfer and initiation according to... 

Elsewhere in this chapter we shall see that other reactions-notably, chain transfer and chain inhibition-also need to be considered to give a more fully developed picture of chain-growth polymerization, but we shall omit these for the time being. Much of the argumentation of this chapter is based on the kinetics of these three mechanistic steps. We shall describe the rates of the three general kinds of reactions by the notation Rj, Rp, and R for initiation, propagation, and termination, respectively. 

Chain transfer to initiator or monomer cannot always be ignored. It may be possible, however, to evaluate the transfer constants to these substances by investigating a polymerization without added solvent or in the presence of a solvent for which Cgj is known to be negligibly small. In this case the transfer constants Cjj and Cj determined from experiments in which (via... 

The production rate is 2—4 t/h, depending on the feed rate, monomer concentration in the feed, and conversion. The conversion of isobutylene and isoprene typically ranges from 75—95% and 45—85%, respectively, depending on the grade of butyl mbber being produced. The composition and mol wt of the polymer formed depend on the concentration of the monomers in the reactor Hquid phase and the amount of chain transfer and terminating species present. The Hquid-phase composition is a function of the feed composition and the extent of monomer conversion. In practice, the principal operating variable is the flow rate of the initiator/coinitiator solution to the reactor residence time is normally 30—60 minutes. 

Chain transfer, the reaction of a propagating radical with a non-radical substrate to produce a dead polymer chain and a new radical capable of initiating a new polymer chain, is dealt with in Chapter 6. There are also situations intermediate between chain transfer and inhibition where the radical produced is less reactive than the propagating radical but still capable of reinitiating polymerization. In this case, polymerization is slowed and the process is termed retardation or degradative chain transfer. The process is mentioned in Section 5.3 and, when relevant, in Chapter 6. 

Even in the absence of added transfer agents, all polymerizations may be complicated by transfer to initiator (Sections 3.2.10 and 3.3), solvent (Section 6.2.2.5), monomer (Section 6.2.6) or polymer (Section 6.2.7). The significance of these transfer reactions is dependent upon the particular propagating radicals involved, the reaction medium and the polymerization conditions. Thiol-ene polymerization consists of sequential chain transfer and reinitiation steps and ideally no monomer consumption by propagation (Section 7.5.3). 

In this copolymerization, most termination is by chain transfer and most chains are initiated by transfer agent-derived radicals. The thiyl radicals generated from the transfer agent react faster with S than they do with acrylate esters (Scheme 7.20). 

ORl OX w di-Miutyl peroxyoxalalc deactivation by reversible chain transfer and bioinolecular aclivaiion 456 atom transfer radical polymerization 7, 250, 456,457, 458,461.486-98 deactivation by reversible coupling and untmolecular activation 455-6, 457-86 carbon-centered radical-mediated poly nierizaiion 467-70 initiators, inferlers and iriiters 457-8 metal complex-mediated radical polymerization 484... 

Chain polymerisation necessarily involves the three steps of initiation, propagation, and termination, but the reactivity of the free radicals is such that other processes can also occur during polymerisation. The major one is known as chain transfer and occurs when the reactivity of the free radical is transferred to another species which in principle is capable of continuing the chain reaction. This chain transfer reaction thus stops the polymer molecule from growing further without at the same time quenching the radical centre. 

Reciprocal degrees of polymerization of polystyrenes prepared by thermal polymerization at 100°C in hydrocarbon solvents are plotted against [>8]/[itf] in Fig. 16. Conversions were sufficiently low to permit the assumption of constancy in this ratio, which is taken equal to its initial value. The linearity of plots such as these, including those for numerous other monomer-solvent pairs which have been investigated, affords the best confirmation for the widespread occurrence of chain transfer and for the bimolecular mechanisms assumed. It is... 

Figure 2,3 Chain growth polymerization exemplified by free radical polymerization of polyethylene a) initiation, b) propagation, c) chain transfer, and d) termination...

Initially the polymer molecular weight distribution obeys a Poisson distribution, typical of a chain growth reaction without chain transfer. Since the reactions are reversible, at a later stage, also the equilibration between the polymers becomes important and a broad distribution of molecular weights is obtained. As can be seen from Figure 16.5 the presence of linear alkenes causes chain termination (chain transfer) and thus low molecular weights are produced if the cycloalkenes are not sufficiently pure. 

Amination. The synthesis of polymers with primary amine end-group functionality has been a challenge because the primary amine group can undergo rapid chain transfer and termination reactions with car-banionic chain ends (14). Schulz and Halasa (15) used a phenyllith-ium initiator with a bis(trimethylsilyl)-protected amine group to prepare amine-terminated polydienes. Nakahama and coworkers (16,17)... 

This reaction is termed chain transfer to initiator and is considered further in Sec. 3-6b. The induced decomposition of initiator does not change the radical concentration during the polymerization, since the newly formed radical (polymer chain. However, the reaction does result in a wastage of initiator. A molecule of initiator is decomposed without an increase in the number of propagating radicals or the amount of monomer being converted to polymer. 

Fig. 3-5 Dependence of the degree of polymerization of styrene on the polymerization rate. The effect of chain transfer to initiator is shown for t-butyl hydroperoxide (o), cumyl hydroperoxide ( ). benzoyl peroxide ( ), and azobisisobutyronitrile ( ) at 60°C. After Baysal and Tobolsky [1952] (by permission of Wiley-Interscience, New York).

Using the methods described, the values of Cm and Ci in the benzoyl peroxide polymerization of styrene have been found to be 0.00006 and 0.055 respectively [Mayo et al., 1951]. The amount of chain transfer to monomer that occurs is negligible in this polymerization. The chain-transfer constant for benzoyl peroxide is appreciable, and chain transfer with initiator becomes increasingly important as the initiator concentration increases. These effects are shown in Fig. 3-7, where the contributions of the various sources of chain ends are indicated. The topmost plot shows the total number of polymer molecules per 105 styrene monomer units. The difference between successive plots gives the number of polymer molecules terminated by normal coupling termination, transfer to benzoyl peroxide, and transfer to styrene. 

The typical effect of initiator chain transfer [Baysal and Tobolsky, 1952] can be seen graphically in Fig. 3-6. The decrease of polymer size due to chain transfer to initiator is much less than indicated from the Ci values because it is the quantity Ci[I]/[M], which affects Xn (Eq. 3-109b). The initiator concentrations are quite low (10 4 I0 2 M) in polymerization, and the ratio [I]/[M] is typically in the range 10 3-10 s. 

Five different types of rate constants are of concern in radical chain polymerization—those for initiation, propagation, termination, chain transfer, and inhibition. The use of polymerization data under steady-state conditions allows the evaluation of only the initiation rate constant kd (or kt for thermal initiation). The ratio kp/k J2 or kp/kl can be obtained from Eq. 3-25, since Rp, Rj, and [M] are measurable. Similarly, the chain-transfer constant k /kp and the inhibition constant kz/kp can be obtained by any one of several methods discussed. However, the evaluation of the individual kp, k ktr, and kz values under steady-state conditions requires the accurate determination of the propagating radical concentration. This would allow the determination of kp from Eq. 3-22 followed by the calculation of kt, kIr, and kz from the ratios kp/ltj2, ktr/kp, and kz/kp. 

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