Pulsed laser terpolymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate

The propagation rate coefficient of the terpolymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate in bulk was successfully determined at three different monomer compositions. The temperature was varied between 18 and 80°C. The resulting data at 50°C were not in agreement with predictions according to the terminal model with binary reactivity ratios that have been determined by fitting copolymer composition data with the terminal model. This indicates that here also the penultimate unit affects the kinetics.