Kinetic study of the radical polymerization behavior of N‐(1‐phenylethylaminocarbonyl)methacrylamide

Abstract

AbstractPolymerization of N‐(1‐phenylethylaminocarbonyl)methacrylamide (PEACMA) with dimethyl 2,2′‐azobisisobutyrate (MAIB) was kinetically studied in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The overall activation energy of the polymerization was estimated to be 84 kJ/mol. The initial polymerization rate (Rp) is given by Rp = k[MAIB]0.6[PEACMA]0.9 at 60 °C, being similar to that of the conventional radical polymerization. The polymerization system involved electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopically observable propagating poly(PEACMA) radical under the actual polymerization conditions. ESR‐determined rate constants of propagation and termination were 140 L/mol s and 3.4 × 104 L/mol s at 60 °C, respectively. The addition of LiCl accelerated the polymerization in N,N‐dimethylformamide but did not in DMSO. The copolymerization of PEACMA(M1) and styrene(M2) with MAIB in DMSO at 60 °C gave the following copolymerization parameters; r1 = 0.20, r2 = 0.51, Q1 = 0.59, and e1 = +0.70. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2013–2020, 2005