Preparation and characterization of polystyrene terminated with an organic sulfide group and styrene–vinyl acetate block copolymer

Polystyrene terminated with an organic sulfide group was prepared by styrene bulk polymerization using three organic disulfides as initiators, and the content of the organic sulfide group (X̄ n ) was determined quantitatively from the data of UV and M̄ n . Styrene–vinyl acetate block copolymer was prepared by using polystyrene ended with the organic sulfide group as the photosensitizer to initiate vinyl acetate polymerization. The copolymer was characterized by IR, 1 H‐NMR, 13 C‐NMR, DSC, and TEM, respectively. Different copolymerization conditions were investigated systematically. The result reveals that the X̄ n value is a key factor in the copolymerization and the copolymerization proceeds via living radical mechanism. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.