Study of the Copolymerization Parameters of 2-Thiozyl Methacrylamide with Different Alkyl Acrylates

Abstract

2-thiozyl methacrylamide (TMA) was synthesized by the reaction of 2-aminothiazole with either methacryloyl chloride or methacrylic acid in the presence of triethylamine and N, N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, respectively. Binary copolymerization reactions of the prepared monomer with methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA), n-butyl acrylate (BA) and tert-butylacrylate (t.BA) were performed in dimethylformamide at 65 ○C using 1 mol% azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The structure of the 2-thiozyl methacrylamide monomer and the prepared copolymers was investigated by IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The copolymer compositions were determined from sulphur analysis. Copolymerization parameters for each system were calculated by the Finemen–Ross and Kelen–Tudos methods. The monomer reactivity ratios for the systems TMA-MA, TMA-EA, TMA-BA, and TMA-tBA were found to be r1=0.128, r2=0.740; r1=0.235, r2=0.420; r1=0.420, r2=0.330 and r1=1.690, r2=0.027, respectively. The reactivities of acrylic esters decrease as the alkyl group become bulkier. The average Q and e values for TMA were calculated from the monomer reactivity ratios determined in the present and previous studies.