Steric effect copolymerization

The reduced reactivity of 5-methy1-1-hexene is consistent with the expected steric effect due to methyl substitution at the 5-carbon position. Apparently, the internal double bond in 5-methyl-l,4-hexadiene assists in its complexation at the active site(s) of the catalyst prior to its polymerization and thereby the "local concentration" of this monomer is higher than the feed concentration during copolymerization with 1-hexene. This view is consistent with the observation that the overall rates of polymerization, under the same conditions, are much lower for the system containing 5-methyl-1,4-hexadiene. 

TABLE 6-9 Steric Effects in Cationic Copolymerization of a- and (i-Methylstyrenes (Mx) with p-Chlorostyrene (M2)a b... 

Steric effects similar to those in radical copolymerization are also operative in cationic copolymerizations. Table 6-9 shows the effect of methyl substituents in the a- and 11-positions of styrene. Reactivity is increased by the a-methyl substituent because of its electron-donating power. The decreased reactivity of P-methylstyrene relative to styrene indicates that the steric effect of the P-substituent outweighs its polar effect of increasing the electron density on the double bond. Furthermore, the tranx-fl-methylstyrene appears to be more reactive than the cis isomer, although the difference is much less than in radical copolymerization (Sec. 6-3b-2). It is worth noting that 1,2-disubstituted alkenes have finite r values in cationic copolymerization compared to the values of zero in radical copolymerization (Table 6-2). There is a tendency for 1,2-disubstituted alkenes to self-propagate in cationic copolymerization, although this tendency is low in the radical reaction. 

The general characteristics of anionic copolymerization are very similar to those of cationic copolymerization. There is a tendency toward ideal behavior in most anionic copolymerizations. Steric effects give rise to an alternating tendency for certain comonomer pairs. Thus the styrene-p-methylstyrene pair shows ideal behavior with t = 5.3, fy = 0.18, r fy = 0.95, while the styrene-a-methylstyrene pair shows a tendency toward alternation with t — 35, r% = 0.003, i ii 2 — 0.11 [Bhattacharyya et al., 1963 Shima et al., 1962]. The steric effect of the additional substituent in the a-position hinders the addition of a-methylstyrene to a-methylstyrene anion. The tendency toward alternation is essentially complete in the copolymerizations of the sterically hindered monomers 1,1-diphenylethylene and trans-, 2-diphe-nylethylene with 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethyl-l,3-butadiene [Yuki et al., 1964]. 

The initiation by aromatic tertiary amines is affected by the type of substituent and its position in the ring. A series of meta-substituted pyridines show a higher activity than ortho- or para-substituted derivatives with electron-releasing substituents. 3-Aminopyridine is much more reactive than 2-aminopyridine and 3-methylpyridine is more effective than 2- or 4-methylpyridine 19). The strong electron-withdrawing substituent of 2-bromopyridine and its steric hindrance eliminate the effect of this amine. A 2,6-Dimethylpyridine was also found to display a steric effect. Thus, in the presence of this amine, the rate of copolymerization decreases by a factor of 4 compared with 3-methylpyridine 69). 

The radical polymerization behavior of captodative olefins such as acrylonitriles, acrylates, and acrylamides a-substituted by an electron-donating substituent is reviewed, including the initiated and spontaneous radical homo- and copolymerizations and the radical polymerizations in the presence of Lewis acids. The formation of low-molecular weight products under some experimental conditions is also reviewed. The reactivity of these olefins is analyzed in the context of the captodative theory. In spite of the unusual stabilization of the captodative radical, the reactivity pattern of these olefins in polymerization does not differ significantly from the pattern observed for other 1,1-disubstituted olefins. Classical explanations such as steric effects and aggregation of monomers are sufficient to rationalize the observations described in the literature. The spontaneous polymerization of acrylates a-substituted by an ether, a thioether, or an acylamido group can be rationalized by the Bond-Forming Initiation theory. 

Aryl-substituted enolizable keto compounds initiate the copolymerization of unsaturated polyesters with styrene. Gel times of the same order as those obtained with conventional peroxide initiators can be attained exotherms, however, are considerably lower, this latter effect being of technological interest—e.g., casting resins. Since a radical mechanism has been proved, it is postulated that radicals result from keto hydroperoxides which have been formed from the aryl-substituted enols via autoxidation. Steric effects and resonance may partly account for differences in the catalytic activity of some and for the inhibiting effect of other ketones and enols. NMR spectroscopy indicates further that cis-trans isomerism may influence the catalytic effectiveness of pure enols. 

Steric influences may retard some radical polymerizations and copolymerizations. Double bonds between substituted carbon atoms are relatively inert (unless the substituents are F atoms) and 1,2-substituted ethylenes do not homopolymerize in normal radical reactions. Where there is some tendency of such monomers to enter into polymers, the trans isomer is more reactive. When consideration is restricted to monomers that are doubly substituted on one carbon atom, it is usually assumed that steric effects can be neglected and that the influence of the two substituents is additive. Thus vinylidene chloride is generally more reactive in copolymerizations than is vinyl chloride. 

The rates of radical-monomer reactions are also dependent on considerations of steric effects. It is observed that most common 1,1-disubstituted monomers — for example, isobutylene, methyl methacrylate and methacrylo-nitrile—react quite readily in both homo- and copolymerizations. On the other hand, 1,2-disubstituted vinyl monomers exhibit a reluctance to ho-mopolymerize, but they do, however, add quite readily to monosubstituted, and perhaps 1,1-disubstituted monomers. A well-known example is styrene (Ml) and maleic anhydride (M2), which copolymerize with r — 0.01 and T2 = 0 at 60°C, forming a 50/50 alternating copolymer over a wide range of monomer feed compositions. This behavior seems to be a consequence of steric hindrance. Calculation of A i2 values for the reactions of various chloroethylenes with radicals of monosubstituted monomers such as styrene, acrylonitrile, and vinyl acetate shows that the effect of a second substituent on monomer reactivity is approximately additive when both substituents are in the 1- or cr-position, but a second substituent when in the 2- or /3-position of the monomer results in a decrease in reactivity due to steric hindrance between it and the polymer radical to which it is adding. 

We use the term constitution to describe the way in which the monomeric units, or constitutional units, are linked together. A knowledge of copolymer constitution thus requires a study of the distribution of the constitutional sequences (more briefly, sequences) of both monomers. As a general rule, the constitution is quantitatively characterized by the product of the reactivity ratios, the parameter of the terminal copolymerization model. The presence of non-ideal constitutional units is not accounted for by this model small numbers of inversions of C3 units or steric effects must be regarded as a perturbation in this approximation. 

The propagation rates in ionic polymerizations are influenced by the polarity of the monomers in free-radical reactions, the relative reactivity of the monomers can be correlated with resonance stabihty, polarity, and steric effects we shall consider only radical copolymerizations. 

Electron-withdrawing substituents in anionic polymerizations enhance electron density at the double bonds or stabilize the carbanions by resonance. Anionic copolymerizations in many respects behave similarly to the cationic ones. For some comonomer pairs steric effects give rise to a tendency to altemate. The reactivities of the monomers in copolymerizations and the compositions of the resultant copolymers are subject to solvent polarity and to the effects of the counterions. The two, just as in cationic polymerizations, cannot be considered independently from each other. This, again, is due to the tightness of the ion pairs and to the amount of solvation. Furthermore, only monomers that possess similar polarity can be copolymerized by an anionic mechanism. Thus, for instance, styrene derivatives copolymerize with each other. Styrene, however, is unable to add to a methyl methacrylate anion, though it copolymerizes with butadiene and isoprene. In copolymerizations initiated by w-butyllithium in toluene and in tetrahydrofuran at-78 °C, the following order of reactivity with methyl methacrylate anions was observed. In toluene the order is diphenylmethyl methacrylate > benzyl methacrylate > methyl methacrylate > ethyl methacrylate > a-methylbenzyl methacrylate > isopropyl methacrylate > t-butyl methacrylate > trityl methacrylate > a,a -dimethyl-benzyl methacrylate. In tetrahydrofuran the order changes to trityl methacrylate > benzyl methacrylate > methyl methacrylate > diphenylmethyl methacrylate > ethyl methacrylate > a-methylbenzyl methacrylate > isopropyl methacrylate > a,a -dimethylbenzyl methacrylate > t-butyl methacrylate. 

Most copolymerizations in the presence of a free radical initiator obey the simple copolymerization equation. Equation (22-22). Consequently, the copolymerization parameters calculated from this equation can be interpreted directly as the ratios of two rate constants. Since they are relative reactivities, they must be influenced by the polarity, the resonance stabilization, and the steric effects of the monomers. In these cases, resonance stabilization effects are generally stronger than polarity influences, and these, in turn are greater than effects due to steric hindrance. 

Structural modifications of polyaniline have mainly been exploited to achieve improved processability and environmental stability. In general, the substituted polyanilines can be obtained via oxidative polymerization of the corresponding monomer. However, inductive and steric effects can make such monomers difficult to polymerize [42]. Several substituted polyanilines have been prepared by varying the nature (alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, etc.) and the position (2- vs 3-, 5-positions) of the substituent [24, 27-32, 34, 37, 43, 44]. These studies have shown that regardless of the nature and position of the substituent group, there is an adverse effect on polymerization and the properties of the polymer such as conductivity and electroactivity. To overcome these limitations, various synthetic methods have been developed to prepare self-doped sulfonated polyanilines. These methods involve controlled postpolymerization modifications by synthetic reactions on the whole polymer and copolymerization of less reactive monomers with aniline as described below. 

Reactivity ratios for the copolymerization of AMPS with acrylic acid were determined in aqueous solution. These were found to be controlled by solution pH. This was rationalized on the basis of a combination of electrostatic and steric effects. 

In a series of more recently published papers, solvent effects, kinetics, steric effects, and ultraviolet initiation in the region of absorption of the complex were studied. Guilbault and Butler [41] found chloromaleic anhydride to copolymerize with divinyl... 

In order to overcome issues such as inductive and steric effects in polymerizing substituted monomers, less-reactive substituted monomers can be either copolymerized with unsubstituted monomers or homopolymerized under more controlled conditions. In addition, it is important for the substitution to avoid locations that will impede polymer growth. For example, in the case of aniline, the substitution should only be in the meta and/or ortho positions and in the case of aromatic heterocyclics such as thiophene and pyrrole, substitution should only occur in the p position. ... 

---