Radical Propagation

Chain-Growth Associative Thickeners. Preparation of hydrophobically modified, water-soluble polymer in aqueous media by a chain-growth mechanism presents a unique challenge in that the hydrophobically modified monomers are surface active and form micelles (50). Although the initiation and propagation occurs primarily in the aqueous phase, when the propagating radical enters the micelle the hydrophobically modified monomers then polymerize in blocks. In addition, the hydrophobically modified monomer possesses a different reactivity ratio (42) than the unmodified monomer, and the composition of the polymer chain therefore varies considerably with conversion (57). The most extensively studied monomer of this class has been acrylamide, but there have been others such as the modification of PVAlc. Pyridine (58) was one of the first chain-growth polymers to be hydrophobically modified. This modification is a post-polymerization alkylation reaction and produces a random distribution of hydrophobic units. 

A typical example of a nonpolymeric chain-propagating radical reaction is the anti-Markovnikov addition of hydrogen sulfide to a terminal olefin. The mechanism involves alternating abstraction and addition reactions in the propagating steps ... 

Cha.in-Tra.nsferAgents. The most commonly employed chain-transfer agents ia emulsion polymerisation are mercaptans, disulfides, carbon tetrabromide, and carbon tetrachloride. They are added to control the molecular weight of a polymer, by transferring a propagating radical to the chain transfer agent AX (63) ... 

In the reaction of 2,3,3-triethyloxazirane (25), three radicals are involved 26, 27, and 28. Radical 26 (Fig. 1) corresponds to the chain reaction propagating radical of the previously mentioned decomposition [Eqs. (20) and (21)]. From 26 hy fragmentation an ethyl radical (27) is formed together with the acid amide. Finally, by radical attack on the oxazirane, 29 can be formed which rearranges to the... 

Oxaziranes derived from isobutyraldehyde react with ferrous salts to give only substituted formamides fEq. (23)], The chain propagating radical 30 thus suffers fission with elimination of the isopropyl group. An H-transfer would lead to substituted butyramides, which are not found. Here is seen a parallel to the fragmentation of alkoxyl radicals, where the elimination of an alkyl group is also favored over hydrogen. The formulation of the oxazirane fission by a radical mechanism is thus supported. 

The development of the autoxidation theory, in which the propagating radicals, alkyl, and alkylperoxyl (R ROO ), and the hydroperoxide (ROOH) are the key intermediates, has therefore led to a comprehensive theory of antioxidant action Scheme 2 shows the two major... 

Sato, T. and Otsu, T. Formation of Living Propagating Radicals in Microspheres and Their Use in the Synthesis of Block Copolymers. Vol. 71, pp. 41 —78. 

Defect groups or structural irregularities need not impair polymer properties, they are simply units That differ from those described by the generalised formula 1 f Initiating radicals arc formed from those Initiator- or transfer agent-derived radicals that add monomer so as to form propagating radicals (see 3.1). 

Primary radical termination may involve combination or disproportionation with the propagating radical. It is often assumed that small radicals give mainly combination even though direct evidence for this is lacking. Both pathways are observed for reaction of eyanoisopropyl radicals with PS (Scheme 3.14) (Section 7.4.3.2). The end group formed by combination is similar to that formed by head addition to monomer differing only in the orientation of the penultimate monomer unit. 

Redox initiation is commonly employed in aqueous emulsion polymerization. Initiator efficiencies obtained with redox initiation systems in aqueous media are generally low. One of the reasons for this is the susceptibility of the initially formed radicals to undergo further redox chemistry. For example, potential propagating radicals may be oxidized to carbonium ions (Scheme 3.44). The problem is aggravated by the low solubility of the monomers (e.g. M VIA. S) in the aqueous phase. 

Primary radical termination involving alkyl radicals is described in Sections 2.5 and 7.4.3. Their reactions with monomers are also discussed in Sections 2.3 (fundamental aspects) and 4.5.4 (model propagation radicals). Their chemistry has been reviewed by Fischer and Radom/41 Giese,342,343 Tedder,344 Beckwith,345 Riichardt,76 and Tedder and Walton.346,347... 

The Coleman-Fox two state model describes the situation where there is restricted rotation about the bond to the preceding unit (Scheme 4.3). If this is slow with respect to the rate of addition, then at least two conformations of the propagating radical need to be considered each of which may react independently with monomer. The rale constants associated with the conformational equilibrium and two values of Pirn) are required to characterize the process. 

The tendency for radicals to give tail addition means that a head-to-head linkage will, most likely, be followed by a tail-to-tail linkage (Scheme 4.5). Thus, head-to-head linkages formed by an "abnormal" addition reaction are chemically distinct from those formed in termination by combination of propagating radicals (Scheme 4.6). 

In this section wc consider systems where the radical formed by propagation can eyclizc to yield a new propagating radical. Certain 1,4-dicncs undergo cyclocopolymerization with suitable olefins. For example, divinyl ether and MAH are proposed to undergo alternating copolymerization as illustrated in Scheme 4.19.167 These cyclo-copolymerizations can he quantitative only for the case of a strictly alternating copolymer. This can be achieved with certain electron donor-electron acceptor pairs, for example divinyl ether-maleic anhydride. 

The incidence of the various structures depends strongly on the comonomer. In copolymerization with acrylates structures 62 and 63 dominate. In copolymerization with VAc structure 61 dominates and 62 and 63 arc not observed. Structure 60 may be present in VAc copolymers to a very small extent but is not observed in acrylate copolymerizations. Structures 62 and 63 arc not observed and cannot be formed in methacrylate copolymerizations.290 The results were interpreted"90 in terms of the PVAc propagating radical having a lesser... 

In this section, we consider the kinetics of propagation and the features of the propagating radical (Pn ) and the monomer (M) structure that render the monomer polymerizable by radical homopolymerization (Section 4.5.1). The reactivities of monomers towards initiator-derived species (Section 3.3) and in copolymerizalion (Chapter 6) arc considered elsewhere. 

The addition of radicals and, in particular, propagating radicals, to unsaturated systems is potentially a reversible process (Scheme 4.46). Depropagation is cntropically favored and the extent therefore increases with increasing temperature (Figure 4.4). The temperature at which the rate of propagation and depropagalion become equal is known as the ceiling temperature (rc). Above Tc there will be net depolymerization. 

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. 

Before any chemistry can take place the radical centers of the propagating species must conic into appropriate proximity and it is now generally accepted that the self-reaction of propagating radicals- is a diffusion-controlled process. For this reason there is no single rate constant for termination in radical polymerization. The average rate constant usually quoted is a composite term that depends on the nature of the medium and the chain lengths of the two propagating species. Diffusion mechanisms and other factors that affect the absolute rate constants for termination are discussed in Section 5.2.1.4. 

The overall rate constant for radical-radical termination can be defined in terms of the rate of consumption of propagating radicals. Consider the simplified mechanism for radical polymerization shown in Scheme 5.4. 

Ideally, as long as the rate constants for reinitiation (AjT, AiM) are high with respect to that for propagation (kv), the transfer reactions should not directly affect the rate of polymerization and they need not be considered further in this section. The overall rate constant for radical-radical termination (A,) can be defined in terms of the rate of consumption of propagating radicals as shown in eq. I ... 

Termination by self-reaction of propagating radicals is a diffusion-controlled process even at very low conversion.1 The evidence for this includes the following ... 

Many emulsion polymerizations can be described by so-called zero-one kinetics. These systems are characterized by particle sizes that are sufficiently small dial entry of a radical into a particle already containing a propagating radical always causes instantaneous termination. Thus, a particle may contain either zero or one propagating radical. The value of n will usually be less than 0.4. In these systems, radical-radical termination is by definition not rate determining. Rates of polymerization are determined by the rates or particle entry and exit rather than by rates of initiation and termination. The main mechanism for exit is thought to be chain transfer to monomer. It follows that radical-radical termination, when it occurs in the particle phase, will usually be between a short species (one that lias just entered) and a long species. 

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