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Effect of the nature of the alkyl group on initiation and termination in R 3 Al/RLi initiation of methyl methacrylate
Author(s) -
Haddleton David M.,
And Kirsty H Hunt,
Crossman Martin C.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19961070117
Subject(s) - aluminium , alkyl , polymer chemistry , methyl methacrylate , polymerization , lithium (medication) , chemistry , steric effects , polymer , anionic addition polymerization , organic chemistry , medicine , endocrinology
The polymerisation of methyl methacrylate has been investigated with mixed aluminium and lithium alkyls. The use of sterically hindered aluminium alkyls such as triisobutyl aluminium in conjunction with tert‐butyl lithium leads to living polymerisation at 0°C with little complications from secondary initiation or premature termination. The use of less bulky alkyl groups on either aluminium or lithium leads to both secondary initiation, as observed by the formation of high molecular weight polymer by GPC‐LALLS and termination via cyclisation as observed by MALDI‐TOF‐MS. The initiator efficiencies, even when living polymerisation ensues, are considerably less than 100%.