Polymerization of methyl methacrylate by Ziegler-Natta type catalyst systems: Fe(acac)3-AlEt2Br and Fe(acac)3-ZnEt2

The polymerization of methyl methacrylate was carried out with the following Ziegler-Natta type initiating systems: Fe(AcAc)3-AlEt2Br, Fe(AcAc)3-ZnEt2 (acac = acetyl acetonate). Both the catalyst systems are active under homogeneous conditions in benzene at 40°C for methyl methacrylate polymerization. The polymerization kinetics suggests that the average rate of polymerization was first order with respect to [monomer] for both the catalyst systems, and the overall activation energies were found to be 14.0 and 12.8 kcal mol −1.