Copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate with unsaturated esters of α-hydroxydialkyl peroxides☆

Abstract A study has been made of the copolymerization of styrene and of methyl methacrylate with the unsaturated esters of α-hydroxydialkyl peroxides, 1-acrylyl-1-tert.-butylperoxyethane and 1-methacrylyl-1-tert.-butylperoxyethane. It was found that in copolymerization of these monomer pairs, side processes such as autoinitiation and phase separation occur. By analysis of kinetic investigations conditions were selected to minimize the effect of the side processes and the reactivity ratios were calculated under these conditions. The reliability of these was verified by comparison of the theoretical and experimental curves of copolymer composition.