Methyl methacrylate rate constants

In thermal polymerization where the rate of initiation may also vary with composition, an abnormal cross initiation rate may introduce a further contribution to nonadditive behavior. The only system investigated quantitatively is styrene-methyl methacrylate, rates of thermal copolymerization of which were measured by Walling. The rate ratios appearing in Eq. (26) are known for this system from studies on the individual monomers, from copolymer composition studies, and from the copolymerization rate at fixed initiation rate. Hence a single measurement of the thermal copolymerization rate yields a value for Ri. Knowing hm and ki22 from the thermal initiation rates for either monomer alone (Chap. IV), the bimolecular cross initiation rate constant kii2 may be calculated. At 60°C it was found to be 2.8 times that... 

Combination and disproportionation are competitive processes and do not occur to the same extent for all polymers. For example, at 60°C termination is virtually 100% by combination for polyacrylonitrile and 100% by disproportionation for poly (vinyl acetate). For polystyrene and poly (methyl methacrylate), both reactions contribute to termination, although each in different proportions. Each of the rate constants for termination individually follows the Arrhenius equation, so the relative amounts of termination by the two modes is given by... 

Figure 6.3 shows some data which constitute a test of Eq. (6.26). In Fig. 6.3a, Rp and [M] are plotted on a log-log scale for a constant level of redox initiator. The slope of this line, which indicates the order of the polymerization with respect to monomer, is unity, showing that the polymerization of methyl methacrylate is first order in monomer. Figure 6.3b is a similar plot of the initial rate of polymerization—which essentially maintains the monomer at constant con-centration—versus initiator concentration for several different monomer-initiator combinations. Each of the lines has a slope of indicating a half-order dependence on [I] as predicted by Eq. (6.26).

Which mechanism of termination will be preferably applied depends largely on the monomer used. Thus, methyl methacrylate chains terminate to a large extent by disproportionation, whereas styrene chains tend to termination by combination. The ratios of termination rate constants 8 = ktJkic (for disproportionation, td, combination,, c) are 5 == 0 and 5 = 2 for styrene [95] and methyl methacrylate [96], respectively. In the case of styrene, however, the values of 8 reported in the literature are at variance. Berger and Meyerhoff [97] found 8 = 0.2, at 52°C. Therefore, it is possible that a fraction of styrene terminates by disproportionation. 

Waters61 have measured relative rates of p-toluenesulfonyl radical addition to substituted styrenes, deducing from the value of p + = — 0.50 in the Hammett plot that the sulfonyl radical has an electrophilic character (equation 21). Further indications that sulfonyl radicals are strongly electrophilic have been obtained by Takahara and coworkers62, who measured relative reactivities for the addition reactions of benzenesulfonyl radicals to various vinyl monomers and plotted rate constants versus Hammett s Alfrey-Price s e values these relative rates are spread over a wide range, for example, acrylonitrile (0.006), methyl methacrylate (0.08), styrene (1.00) and a-methylstyrene (3.21). The relative rates for the addition reaction of p-methylstyrene to styrene towards methane- and p-substituted benzenesulfonyl radicals are almost the same in accord with their type structure discussed earlier in this chapter. 

Fig. 2. Arrhenius plots of the rate constants of the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate in THF as the solvent and with Na+ orCs+ as the counterion. (R. Kraft, A. H. E. Muller, V. Warzelhan, H. Hocker, G. V. Schulz, Ref.35>)...

Additional data were obtained from the study of kinetics of the slow disproportionation of the living dimers of methyl methacrylate. The progress of this reaction is shown in Fig. 8 which displays also the respective rates and equilibrium constants. 

Absorption rates of carbon dioxide were measured in organic solutions of glycidyl methacrylate at 101.3 kPa to obtain the reaction kinetics between carbon dioxide and glycidyl methacrylate using tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride(Aliquat 336) as catalysts. The reaction rate constants were estimated by the mass transfer mechanism accompanied by the pseudo-first-order fast reaction. An empirical correlation between the reaction rate constants and the solubility parameters of solvents, such as toluene, A-methyl-2-pirrolidinone, and dimethyl sulfoxide was presented. 

The above explanation of autoacceleration phenomena is supported by the manifold increase in the initial polymerization rate for methyl methacrylate which may be brought about by the addition of poly-(methyl methacrylate) or other polymers to the monomer.It finds further support in the suppression, or virtual elimination, of autoacceleration which has been observed when the molecular weight of the polymer is reduced by incorporating a chain transfer agent (see Sec. 2f), such as butyl mercaptan, with the monomer.Not only are the much shorter radical chains intrinsically more mobile, but the lower molecular weight of the polymer formed results in a viscosity at a given conversion which is lower by as much as several orders of magnitude. Both factors facilitate diffusion of the active centers and, hence, tend to eliminate the autoacceleration. Final and conclusive proof of the correctness of this explanation comes from measurements of the absolute values of individual rate constants (see p. 160), which show that the termination constant does indeed decrease a hundredfold or more in the autoacceleration phase of the polymerization, whereas kp remains constant within experimental error. 

The results of chain transfer studies with different polymer radicals are compared in Table XIV. Chain transfer constants with hydrocarbon solvents are consistently a little greater for methyl methacrylate radicals than for styrene radicals. The methyl methacrylate chain radical is far less effective in the removal of chlorine from chlorinated solvents, however. Vinyl acetate chains are much more susceptible to chain transfer than are either of the other two polymer radicals. As will appear later, the propagation constants kp for styrene, methyl methacrylate, and vinyl acetate are in the approximate ratio 1 2 20. It follows from the transfer constants with toluene, that the rate constants ktr,s for the removal of benzylic hydrogen by the respective chain radicals are in the ratio 1 3.5 6000. Chain transfer studies offer a convenient means for comparing radical reactivities, provided the absolute propagation constants also are known. 

Very similar variations in average copolymer composition with conversion have recently been observed in the styrene methyl methacrylate system by both Johnson et al ( and by Dionisio and O Driscoll (. The reason for the variation may be due to a viscosity effect on propagation rate constants QO). 

At 24 °C and 15-60 bar ethylene, [Rh(Me)(0H)(H20)Cn] catalyzed the slow polymerization of ethylene [4], Propylene, methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate did not react. After 90 days under 60 bar CH2=CH2 (the pressure was held constant throughout) the product was low molecular weight polyethylene with Mw =5100 and a polydispersity index of 1.6. This is certainly not a practical catalyst for ethylene polymerization (TOP 1 in a day), nevertheless the formation and further reactions of the various intermediates can be followed conveniently which may provide ideas for further catalyst design. For example, during such investigations it was established, that only the monohydroxo-monoaqua complex was a catalyst for this reaction, both [Rh(Me)3Cn] and [Rh(Me)(H20)2Cn] were found completely ineffective. The lack of catalytic activity of [Rh(Me)3Cn] is understandable since there is no free coordination site for ethylene. Such a coordination site can be provided by water dissociation from [Rh(Me)(OH)(H20)Cn] and [Rh(Me)(H20)2Cn] and the rate of this exchange is probably the lowest step of the overall reaction.The hydroxy ligand facilitates the dissociation of H2O and this leads to a slow catalysis of ethene polymerization. 

Compositionally uniform copolymers of tributyltin methacrylate (TBTM) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) are produced in a free running batch process by virtue of the monomer reactivity ratios for this combination of monomers (r (TBTM) = 0.96, r (MMA) = 1.0 at 80°C). Compositional ly homogeneous terpolymers were synthesised by keeping constant the instantaneous ratio of the three monomers in the reactor through the addition of the more reactive monomer (or monomers) at an appropriate rate. This procedure has been used by Guyot et al 6 in the preparation of butadiene-acrylonitrile emulsion copolymers and by Johnson et al (7) in the solution copolymerisation of styrene with methyl acrylate. 

Charge on a polymer molecule can also affect reactivity by altering the concentration of the small molecule reactant within the polymer domains. The reaction of a charged polymer with a charged reactant results in acceleration for oppositely charged species and retardation when the charges are the same. For example, the rate constant for the KOH saponification of poly(methyl methacrylate) decreases by about an order of magnitude as the reaction proceeds [Plate, 1976]. Partially reacted poly(methyl methacrylate) (IV) repells hydroxide ion, while... 

Oxygen has two possible interactions during the polymerization process [94], and these reactions are illustrated in Fig. 2. The first of these is a quenching of the excited triplet state of the initiator. When this quenching occurs the initiator will absorb the light and move to its excited state, but it will not form the radical or radicals that initiate the polymerization. A reduction in the quantum yield of the photoinitiator will be observed. The second interaction is the reaction with carbon based polymerizing radicals to form less reactive peroxy radicals. The rate constant for the formation of peroxy radicals has been found to be of the order of 109 1/mol-s [94], Peroxy radicals are known to have rate constants for reaction with methyl methacrylate of 0.241/mol-s [100], while polymer radicals react with monomeric methyl methacrylate with a rate constant of 5151/mol-s [100], This difference implies that peroxy radicals are nearly 2000 time less reactive. Obviously, this indicates that even a small concentration of oxygen in the system can severely reduce the polymerization rate. 

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