Synthesis and characterization of functional copolymers of citronellol with butylmethacrylate initiated by benzoyl peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide (BPO)‐initiated free radical copolymerization of citronellol with butylmethacrylate (BMA) in xylene at 80°C ± 0.1°C under the inert atmosphere of nitrogen has been studied. The kinetics expression is R p α [I] 0.5±0.27 [citronellol] 1.0±0.13 [BMA] 1.0±0.18 . The overall activation energy has been calculated as 65 kJ/mol. Bands at 3436 and 1732 cm −1 in the FTIR spectrum of the copolymer(s) have indicated the presence of hydroxy, ester group of citronellol and butylmethacrylate, respectively. The 1 H‐NMR spectrum shows peaks at 7.0–7.7 δ due to OH proton of citronellol and at 3.2–4.0 δ due to OCH 2 proton of butylmethacrylate. The molecular weight M v and η int of the copolymers have been measured with the help of gel permeation chromatography in tetrahydrofuran at 25°C to calculate Mark‐Houwink constants as K = 2.68 × 10 −4 and α = 0.34 ± 0.40. The alternating nature of the copolymer is confirmed by reactivity ratios r 1 (BMA) = 0.023 ± 0.004 and r 2 (Citronellol) = 0.0025 ± 0.22. The Alfrey‐Price Q ‐ e parameters for citronellol have been calculated as Q 2 = 0.13 and e 2 = –1.28. Thermal decompositions of copolymer are evaluated with the help of thermal gravimetric analysis technique. The mechanism of copolymerization has been elucidated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009