Radical polymerization of styrene initiated by p-acetyl benzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide

Abstract

The kinetics of the polymerization of styrene in bulk and in dilute systems in the presence of p-acetyl benzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide ( p-ABTAY) as radical initiator has been examined at 60 ± 0.1°C for 20 h under N 2. The values of the initiator exponent and the monomer exponent showed that the system follows ideal radical kinetics with bimolecular termination. The overall activation energy and average value of k 2 p k t are 64.6 kJ mol −1 and 0.10 × 10 −2 l mol −1 s −1, respectively. The ylide dissociates to produce phenyl radical, which brings about polymerization.