Abstract
Polymerization of methyl methacrylate was studied in tetrahydrofuran with magnesium—benzophenone ketyl as initiator. According to the results of optical absorption studies on the reaction of the initiator as well as of conventional polymerization experiments; it is concluded that (1) the polymerization proceeds via the anionic mechanism, (2) the initiation reaction between the ketyl anion and the monomer shows an activation energy of 4kcal/mol and a rate constant of 1.6×10−2 M−1sec−1 at −25°C, and (3) the chain-transfer reaction occurs slowly through electron transfer to benzophenone in the reaction system with an activation energy of 2kcal/mol and a rate constant of 1.3×10−1 M−1sec−1 at −25°C. The results also suggested that the initiation efficiency is not much lower than unity and that the propagation rate constant is as low as 10−1 M−1sec−1 at −20°C.
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Ogasawara, M., Kin, T., Yoshida, H. et al. Magnesium—Benzophenone Ketyl as an Initiator of Anionic Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate. Polym J 7, 423–430 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1295/polymj.7.423
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1295/polymj.7.423