Anionic bulk polymerization of α‐methylstyrene. Stopping of polymerization due to vitrification and equilibrium in bulk

Abstract

Anionic living polymerization of α‐methylstyrene containing a small amount of THF (less than 10%) was studied at temperatures between −30°C and 50°C. At any temperature studied, a certain quantity of monomer remained without further polymerization. The effect of temperature and THF content on the final state was completely different in low and high temperature regions; at temperatures lower than ca. 20°C, the final monomer concentration decreased with increasing polymerization temperature and THF content. This is explained by the concept of “stopping of polymerization due to vitrification” of the polymerizing mixture. In fact, the final reaction mixture is really glassy in most cases and the red color of living polymer buried in the glass is discolored only very slowly when exposed to air. Detailed analysis of the results showed that the vitrification stopping holds only approximately. At temperatures higher than ca. 30°C, a normal equilibrium between propagation and depropagation holds, and the final monomer concentration increased with temperature. It is, however, far less than the equilibrium monomer concentration obtained in solution polymerization at the same temperature, and it increased appreciably with the increase in THF content. It is shown that the behavior of the equilibrium for the whole concentration range can be explained satisfactorily by a thermodynamic theory of ternary mixture.