Comparison of chemical and enzymatic emulsion polymerization of styrene

Abstract

AbstractFor the reasonable comparison of chemical and enzymatic polymerization, manganese(III) acetate and manganese peroxidase (MnP)‐catalyzed synthesis of polystyrenes were chosen and studied with respect to the yield and the polydispersity of polymer particles. MnP allowed the production of polystyrene in a higher yield and higher polydispersity (82.34% and 2.61) than manganese(III) acetate (77.90% and 1.75). This is believed to be due to a gradual supply of initiator radicals via a catalytic cycle in MnP‐catalyzed polymerization, whereas radicals are generated all at once in Mn(III)‐mediated polymerization. NMR spectroscopy revealed that atactic polystyrene was produced by emulsion polymerization using Mn(III) or MnP. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009