Monomer Reactivity Ratios for the Copolymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with Pure Meta- and Pure Para-Divinylbenzene

Abstract

The monomer reactivity ratios for methyl methacrylate (MMA) with pure meta-divinylbenzene (m-DVB) and with pure para-divinylbenzene (p-DVB), determined with radioactivity assay techniques, are r₁(MMA) = 0. 41, r₂(m-DVB) = 0.61 and r₁(MMA) ≃ 0.62, r₂(p-DVB) ≃ 1. 3. The data for the MMA/m-DVB pair give a fairly precise solution of the copolymerization equation and are in accord with previously observed styrene (S)/methyl methacrylate values [8] (r₁ = 0.52,r₂ - 0.41). The data for the MMA/p-DVB pair, as was also observed for the S/p-DVB pair, do not give an entirely satisfactory solution for the equation but do indicate a substantial preference of both (p-DVB and MMA or S) radicals for the p-DVB monomer and thus confirm a postulated clustering of p-DVB units.