Copolymerization of maleic anhydride with ethyl cinnamate and with anethole in chloroform

Abstract

The composition of the copolymers of maleic anhydride (MA) with ethyl cinnamate (EC) and with anethole (ANE) polymerized in chloroform solutions with a radical initiator is reported. A strong alternating tendency is observed in the ANE-MA copolymer but EC is incorporated dominantly into the EC-MA copolymer. Both ANE and EC form 1 : 1 charge-transfer complexes with MA with the equilibrium constants determined to be 0,0845 and 0,026 L/mol, respectively. Applicability of the terminal, the penultimate and the complex participation models of the copolymerization mechanism is examined by non-linear least-square minimization technique using the most general forms of the composition equations. The complex participation model is found to be slightly in favor for both EC-MA and ANE-MA copolymerizations in CHCl3.