ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Copolymerization up to high conversions. IV. Systems styrene-acrylonitrile, α-methylstyrene-acrylonitrile, and styrene-α-methylstyrene-acrylonitrile

J. Bartoň, V. Juraničová, and I. Capek

Polymer Institute, Centre of Chemical Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, CS-842 36 Bratislava

Abstract:  The high conversion copolymerization and terpolymerization of elec­tron-donor monomers styrene and a-methylstyrene and of electron-acceptor monomer acrylonitrile in the presence and/or absence of zinc dichloride at 60 °C was studied. The change of the copolymer and of the terpolymer composition with monomer conversion cannot be described by Mayo—Lewis and Alfrey—Goldfinger classical models of copolymerization and of ter­polymerization. The presence of Lewis acid in copolymerization and ter­polymerization reaction systems in comparison to the systems without Lewis acid does not practically influence the copolymer and/or terpolymer chemical composition. Addition of Lewis acid markedly influences the dependence of the fractional rate of copolymerization and of terpolymerization on conversion. In reaction systems containing Lewis acid monotonie decrease of the fractional copolymerization rate with conversion was observed. In the absence of Lewis acid the course of the fractional rate of copolymerization as a function of conversion is characterized by a pronounced maximum on the curve of fractional copolymerization rate (gel effect) in the region of 20—25 % of conversion.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 374a543.pdf

Chemical Papers 37 (4) 543–554 (1983)