Copolymerization relative reactivity ratios

Table 2 shows characteristic reactivity ratios for selected free-radical, ionic, and coordination copolymerizations. The reactivity ratios predict only tendencies some copolymerization, and hence some modification of physical properties, can occur even if and/or T2 are somewhat unfavorable. For example, despite their dissimilar reactivity ratios, ethylene and propylene can be copolymerized to a useful elastomeric product by adjusting the monomer feed or by usiag a catalyst that iacreases the reactivity of propylene relative to ethylene. 

What is meant by relative reactivity ratios in copolymerization process How the copolymerization depends on the relative reactivity ratios Discuss. 

The best test for functionality would be in a copolymerization study. A polystyrene with a methacrylate terminal functional group was prepared. A review of relative reactivity ratios indicated that vinyl chloride reacts very rapidly with methacrylates. Therefore, a copolymerization of the polystyrene terminated with a methacrylate functional group in vinyl chloride would be a good test case, and one should observe the disappearance of the MACROMER if the reaction is followed by using GPC analysis. 

It was demonstrated that MACROMER will copolymerize with conventional monomers in a predictable manner as determined by the relative reactivity ratios. The copolymer equation ... 

According to literature data vinyl esters of saturated aliphatic carboxylic acid copolymerize randomly with each other (I), the monomers being incorporated into the copolymer in about the same ratio at which they are present in the monomer mixture. This means that for practical purposes the relative reactivity ratios ri and r > can be taken to be equal and unity. 

The classical Mayo-Lewis scheme relating comonomer feeds to relative reactivity ratios (5i) is often applied to copolymerization of cyclosiloxanes. This scheme presumes that no depropagation of the copolymer occurs, that the copolymerization rate constants depend only on the ultimate comonomer units, and that instantaneous comonomer feed ratios and copolymer compositions are used in the analysis of data. When these assumptions hold, the Mayo-Lewis method is very useful for the analysis of copolymerization data. 

A combination of variables controls the outcome of the copolymerization of two or more unsaturated monomers by CCT free-radical polymerization.382 Of course, all of the features that control the outcome of a normal free-radical polymerization come into effect.40 426 429 These include the molar ratio of monomers, their relative reactivity ratios and their normal chain-transfer constants, the polymerization temperature, and the conversion. In the presence of a CCT catalyst, the important variables also include their relative CCT chain-transfer constants and the concentration of the Co chain-transfer agent. The combination of all of these features controls the molecular weight of the polymer and the nature of the vinyl end group. In addition, they can also control the degree of branching of the product. 

In order to determine the reactivity of pentachlorophenyl acrylate, 8, in radical initiated copolymerizations, its relative reactivity ratios were obtained with vinyl acetate (M2), ri=1.44 and r2=0.04 using 31 copolymerization experiments, and with ethyl acrylate (M2), ri=0.21 and r2=0.88 using 20 experiments.The composition conversion data was computer-fitted to the integrated form of the copolymer equation using the nonlinear least-squares method of Tidwell and Mortimer,which had been adapted to a computerized format earlier. 

The synthesis of polystyrene-g-polytetrahydrofurane [188] was achieved by ATR copolymerization of methacrylic PTHF macromonomer, MA-PTHF, with styrene (Scheme 105). The PTHF macromonomer was synthesized by cationic ring opening polymerization of THF with acrylate ions, formed by the reaction of methacryloyl chloride and AgC104. The polydispersity indices of the graft copolymers determined by SEC ranged between 1.3-1.4. Kinetic studies revealed that the relative reactivity ratio of the macromonomer to St was independent of the molecular weight of PTHF. 

Ionic copolymerizations are more complicated than free-radical ones. Various complicating factors arise from effects of the counterions and from influences of the solvents. These affect the reactivity ratios. In addition, monomer reactivity is affected by the substituents. They influence the electron densities of the double bonds and, in cationic polymerizations, the resonance stabilization of the resultant carbon cations. Yet, the effects of the counterions, the solvents, and even the reaction temperatures can be even greater than that of the substituents in cationic polymerizations. There are only a few studies reported in the literature, where the reactivity ratios were determined for different monomers, using the same temperature, solvent, and counterion. One such study was carried out on cationic copolymerizations of styrene with two substituted styrenes. These were a-methylstyrene, and with chlorostyrene. " The relative reactivity ratios of these substituted styrenes were correlated with Hammett pa values. The effect of the substituents on reactivity of styrene fall in the following order ... 

Using Eqs. (43)-(45) and the copolymerization results, an average value of 2.73 was calculated for the relative reactivity ratio ki2/k 3. This suggests that the CEVE radical reacts with MA about 2.73 times as fast as CEVE radical with FN. 

Copolymerization of alkylene oxides is complicated because the results depend on the initiator system the solvent, if present and the terminal or end group (and sometimes the penultimate group as well). The simplifying factor is that the copolymerization kinetics can be characterized by a single relative reactivity rate ratio (121) rather than the two relative reactivity ratios required for free-radical, vinyl copolymerization (122). There are very few reported instances of free-radical copolymerization of oxirane (123). 

Monomers not amenable to direct homopolymerization using a particular reagent can sometimes be copolymcrizcd. For example, NMP often fails with methacrylates (e.g. MMA, BMA), yet copolymerizalions of these monomers with S are possible even when the monomer mix is predominantly composed of the methacrylate monomer,15j This is attributed to the facility of cross propagation and the relatively low steady state concentration of propagating radicals with a terminal MMA (Section 7.4.3.1). MMA can also be copolymerized with S or acrylates at low temperature (60 C).111 Under these conditions, only deactivation of propagating radicals with a terminal MMA unit is reversible, deactivation of chains with a terminal S or acrylate unit is irreversible. Molecular weights should then be controlled by the reactivity ratios and the comonomer concentration rather than by the nitroxide/alkoxyamine concentration. 

Mayo-Lewis Binary Copolymeriration Model. In this exeimple we consider the Mayo-Lewis model for describing binary copolymerization. The procedure for estimating the kinetic parameters expressed as reactivity ratios from composition data is discussed in detail in our earlier paper (1 ). Here diad fractions, which are the relative numbers of MjMj, MiMj, M Mj and MjMj sequences as measured by NMR are used. NMR, while extremely useful, cannot distinguish between MiM and M Mi sequences and... 

The effect of temperature on r is not large, since activation energies for radical propagation are relatively small and, more significantly, fall in a narrow range such that En Eu is less than 10 kJ mol-1 for most pairs of monomers. However, temperature does have an effect, since E 2 — E is not zero. An increase in temperature results in a less selective copolymerization as the two monomer reactivity ratios of a comonomer pair each tend toward unity with decreasing preference of either radical for either monomer. Temperature has the greatest... 

The monomer reactivity ratios for many of the most common monomers in radical copolymerization are shown in Table 6-2. These data are useful for a study of the relation between structure and reactivity in radical addition reactions. The reactivity of a monomer toward a radical depends on the reactivities of both the monomer and the radical. The relative reactivities of monomers and their corresponding radicals can be obtained from an analysis of the monomer reactivity ratios [Walling, 1957]. The reactivity of a monomer can be seen by considering the inverse of the monomer reactivity ratio (1 jf). The inverse of the monomer reactivity ratio gives the ratio of the rate of reaction of a radical with another monomer to its rate of reaction with its own monomer... 

It has previously been shown that large changes can occur in the rate of a cationic polymerization by using a different solvent and/or different counterion (Sec. 5-2f). The monomer reactivity ratios are also affected by changes in the solvent or counterion. The effects are often complex and difficult to predict since changes in solvent or counterion often result in alterations in the relative amounts of the different types of propagating centers (free ion, ion pair, covalent), each of which may be differently affected by solvent. As many systems do not show an effect as do show an effect of solvent or counterion on r values [Kennedy and Marechal, 1983]. The dramatic effect that solvents can have on monomer reactivity ratios is illustrated by the data in Table 6-10 for isobutylene-p-chlorostyrene. The aluminum bromide-initiated copolymerization shows r — 1.01, r2 = 1.02 in n-hexane but... 

Monomer reactivity ratios and copolymer compositions in many anionic copolymerizations are altered by changes in the solvent or counterion. Table 6-12 shows data for styrene-isoprene copolymerization at 25°C by n-butyl lithium [Kelley and Tobolsky, 1959]. As in the case of cationic copolymerization, the effects of solvent and counterion cannot be considered independently of each other. For the tightly bound lithium counterion, there are large effects due to the solvent. In poor solvents the copolymer is rich in the less reactive (based on relative rates of homopolymerization) isoprene because isoprene is preferentially complexed by lithium ion. (The complexing of 1,3-dienes with lithium ion is discussed further in Sec. 8-6b). In good solvents preferential solvation by monomer is much less important and the inherent greater reactivity of styrene exerts itself. The quantitative effect of solvent on copolymer composition is less for the more loosely bound sodium counterion. 

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