Radicals by initiators

The development takes into account transfer to monomer, transfer to polymer, and terminal double bond polymerization. For the vinyl acetate system where transfer to monomer is high, the generation of radicals by transfer to monomer is much greater than the generation of radicals by initiation, so that essentially all radicals present have terminal double bonds hence, effectively all dead polymer molecules also have a terminal double bond. Thus, for vinyl acetate polymerization, the terminal double bond polymerization can be significant, and has been built into the development. The equations for the moments of the molecular weight distribution and the average number of branches per polymer molecule are as follows ... 

Free-radical reactions were discussed in the context of combustion in Chapter 9, and the same principles apply here. Radical reactions start with the formation of the radicals by initiators such as peroxides. As shown in Figure 13.25, radicals react with monomers to create more radicals that combine with monomers. The process continues imtil the chain reaction is stopped by one of three mechanisms, all of which involve the combination of two radicals. Monomers capable of free-radical polymerization include styrene, vinyl chloride, and methyl methacrylate. Chemical initiators include hydrogen and other peroxides and potassium persulfate. Most initiators have weak O—O bonds that cleave homolytically (i.e., an electron pair splits in half) to form radicals, as in peroxides. 

From the previously published evidence a plausible mechanism for CASING in the particular case of polyethylene would be as follows. Production of radicals by initial argon ion bombardment (i). 

In the steady state the rate of formation of radicals by initiation, is equal to the rate of removal of radicals by termination. 

The reaction was formerly considered to involve a radical mechanism initiated by the non-ionic fission of the very weak N Br bond. 

Poly (methyl Acrylate). The monomer used for preparing poly(methyl acrylate) is produced by the oxidation of propylene. The resin is made by free-radical polymerization initiated by peroxide or azo catalysts and has the following formula ... 

Radicals incorporated into polymer radicals formed by initiator... 

The resulting radical is stabilized by electron delocalization and eventually reacts with either another inhibitor radical by combination (dimerization) or disproportionation or with an initiator or other radical. 

Polymerization begins in the aqueous phase with the decomposition of the initiator. The free radicals produced initiate polymerization by reacting with the monomers dissolved in the water. The resulting polymer radicals grow very slowly because of the low concentration of monomer, but as they grow they acquire surface active properties and eventually enter micelles. There is a possibility that they become adsorbed at the oil-water interface of the monomer... 

Although a variety of methods for generating radicals by one or more of these three methods are reported in the Hterature, commercial initiators are primarily organic and inorganic peroxides, aUphatic a2o compounds, certain organic compounds with labile carbon—carbon bonds, and photoinitiators. 

Initiation of radical reactions with uv radiation is widely used in industrial processes (85). In contrast to high energy radiation processes where the energy of the radiation alone is sufficient to initiate reactions, initiation by uv irradiation usually requires the presence of a photoinitiator, ie, a chemical compound or compounds that generate initiating radicals when subjected to uv radiation. There are two types of photoinitiator systems those that produce initiator radicals by intermolecular hydrogen abstraction and those that produce initiator radicals by photocleavage (86—91). 

Both vapor-phase and Hquid-phase processes are employed to nitrate paraffins, using either HNO or NO2. The nitrations occur by means of free-radical steps, and sufftciendy high temperatures are required to produce free radicals to initiate the reaction steps. For Hquid-phase nitrations, temperatures of about 150—200°C are usually required, whereas gas-phase nitrations fall in the 200—440°C range. Sufficient pressures are needed for the Hquid-phase processes to maintain the reactants and products as Hquids. Residence times of several minutes are commonly required to obtain acceptable conversions. Gas-phase nitrations occur at atmospheric pressure, but pressures of 0.8—1.2 MPa (8—12 atm) are frequentiy employed in industrial units. The higher pressures expedite the condensation and recovery of the nitroparaffin products when cooling water is employed to cool the product gas stream leaving the reactor (see Nitroparaffins). 

The radicals then initiate chain growth by adding an unsaturated monomer molecule, M, to form growing chain... 

Styrene is a colorless Hquid with an aromatic odor. Important physical properties of styrene are shown in Table 1 (1). Styrene is infinitely soluble in acetone, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, ether, / -heptane, and ethanol. Nearly all of the commercial styrene is consumed in polymerization and copolymerization processes. Common methods in plastics technology such as mass, suspension, solution, and emulsion polymerization can be used to manufacture polystyrene and styrene copolymers with different physical characteristics, but processes relating to the first two methods account for most of the styrene polymers currendy (ca 1996) being manufactured (2—8). Polymerization generally takes place by free-radical reactions initiated thermally or catalyticaHy. Polymerization occurs slowly even at ambient temperatures. It can be retarded by inhibitors. 

Initiation. Free-radical initiators are produced by several processes. The high temperatures and shearing stresses required for compounding, extmsion, and molding of polymeric materials can produce alkyl radicals by homolytic chain cleavage. Oxidatively sensitive substrates can react directly with oxygen, particularly at elevated temperatures, to yield radicals. 

The most common reaction of methylene chloride is its reaction with chlorine to give chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. This occurs by a free-radical process initiated by heat or light in the gas or Hquid phase. Catalytic chlorination to these same products is also known (see Chlorocarbons and Cm OROHYDROCARBONS, Cm OROFORM). 

This thermal initiation generates two free radicals by breaking a covalent bond. The aldehyde radical is long-lived and does not markedly influence the subsequent mechanism. The methane radical is highly reactive and generates most reactions. 

Nonetheless, the reduction clearly proceeds by initial addition of one electroi to the aj omatic ring and the resulting radical-anion must be protonated ii some way before the second electron addition can occur. 

A novel cross-linked polystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer has been produced from suspension polymerization with toluene as a diluent, having an average particle size of 2 to 50 /rm, with an exclusive molecular weight for the polystyrene standard from about 500 to 20,000 in gel-permeation chromatography. A process for preparing the PS-DVB copolymer by suspension polymerization in the presence of at least one free-radical polymerization initiator, such as 2,2 -azo-bis (2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) with a half-life of about 2 to 60 min at 70°C, has been disclosed (78). 

The reaction of benzyl radicals wdth several heterocyclic compounds W as more extensively studied by Waters and Watson, " - who generated benzyl radicals by decomposing di-tert-butyl peroxide in boiling toluene. The products of the reaction with acridine, 5-phenyl-acridine, 1 2- and 3 4-benzacridine, and phenazine were studied. Acridine gives a mixture of 9-benzylacridine (17%) (28) and 5,10-dibenzylacridan (18%) (29) but ho biacridan, w hereas anthracene gives a mixture of 9,10-dibenzyl-9,10-dihydroanthracene and 9,9 -dibenzyl-9,9, 10,10 -tetrahydrobianthryl. This indicates that initial addition must occur at the meso-carbon and not at the nitrogen atom. (Similar conclusions were reached on the basis of methylations discussed in Section III,C.) That this is the position of attack is further supported by the fact that the reaction of benzyl radicals with 5-... 

The allylic bromination of an olefin with NBS proceeds by a free-radical chain mechanism. The chain reaction initiated by thermal decomposition of a free-radical initiator substance that is added to the reaction mixture in small amounts. The decomposing free-radical initiator generates reactive bromine radicals by reaction with the N-bromosuccinimide. A bromine radical abstracts an allylic hydrogen atom from the olefinic subsfrate to give hydrogen bromide and an allylic radical 3 ... 

As mentioned in an earlier section (cf. Chapter 1, Section III), allylic positions are subject to attack by free radicals resulting in the formation of stable allyl radicals. A-Bromosuccinimide (NBS) in the presence of free-radical initiators liberates bromine radicals and initiates a chain reaction bromination sequence by the abstraction of allylic or benzylic hydrogens. Since NBS is also conveniently handled, and since it is unreactive toward a variety of other functional groups, it is usually the reagent of choice for allylic or benzylic brominations (7). 

We have prepared a copolymer-bearing amino side group and used it either alone or in combination with BP to initiate the photopolymerization of MM A [89]. The gel permeation chromatography (GPC) plot of PMMA initiated by the former system showed a bimodal distribution of molecular weight because both the radicals produced initiate polymerization as follows ... 

The initiating radicals are assumed to be SCN, ONO or N3 free radicals. Tris oxalate-ferrate-amine anion salt complexes have been studied as photoinitiators (A = 436 nm) of acrylamide polymer [48]. In this initiating system it is proposed that the CO2 radical anion found in the primary photolytic process reacts with iodonium salt (usually diphenyl iodonium chloride salt) by an electron transfer mechanism to give photoactive initiating phenyl radicals by the following reaction machanism ... 

When tertiary butyl hydrogen peroxide (TBHP) was used alone as the radical initiator, no grafting of methylmethacrylate (MMA) onto wool was observed. However, TBHP in conjunction with mineral acids, such as H2SO4, HNO3, or HCIO4 afforded good results [26]. Protonation of TBHP by the acid aided in the dissociation of TBHP to yield free radicals, which initiated grafting reaction. 

In redox initiation, the free radicals that initiate the polymerization are generated as transient intermediates in the course of redox reaction. Essentially this involves an electron transfer process followed by scission to give free radicals. A wide variety of redox reactions, involving both organic and inorganic components either wholly... 

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