Metal-Containing initiator Systems. XXXVI. Synthesis of Block Copolymer of Methyl Acrylate and α-Methylbenzyl Methacrylate with Binary Initiator System of Cobaltocene and Bis(ethyl acetoacetato)copper(II)

Abstract

Abstract Polymerizations of methyl acrylate (MA) and (DL)-α-methyl-benzyl methacrylate (MBMA) with binary initiator system of cobaltocene [Co(C5H5)2] and bis(ethyl acetoacetato)copper(II) [Cu(eacac)2] were studied in acetonitrile at 25°C. The molecular weight of the polymers obtained by MA was found to increase with time in the early stage of polymerization. Although MBMA was also polymerized by this system, asymmetric selective polymerization was not induced in the presence of (-)-sparteine. The synthesis of the block copolymer of MA and MBMA was attempted by using this initiator system. The block copolymer was obtained in 90% yield in the polymerization of MBMA with a polymer radical which prepared from MA with this system for 1 day. The yield of the block copolymer depended on the prepolymeriza-tion time of MA by this system. The resulting block copolymer was characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, and gel-permeation chromatography.