Effect of temperature and solvent on polymer tacticity in the free-radical polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate

Leesa M. Smith, Michelle L. Coote*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    23 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The effect of temperature and solvent on polymer tacticity in free-radical polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate was studied by 13C and 1H NMR, respectively. Polystyrene shows a mild syndiotactic tendency (Pm = 0.36 ± 0.02) that is independent of temperature over a wide range (-10 to 120°C), while poly(methyl methacrylate) shows a stronger syndiotactic tendency (Pm = 0.17 ± 0.01 at 30°C) that decreases as temperature is increased (Pm = 0.22 ± 0.02 at 80°C). None of the polymerization solvents studied (bulk, THF, DMF, DMSO, acetonitrile, and acetone) had a significant effect on polymer tacticity in either system. The triad fractions of both polymers showed deviations from the Bernoulli model, implying that the antepenultimate unit affects the propagation reaction.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3351-3358
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry
    Volume51
    Issue number16
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 15 Aug 2013

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