THERMAL-DEGRADATION BEHAVIOR OF SOME ALTERNATING COPOLYMERS

An overview is presented of the thermal degradation behaviour of a num ber of alternating copolymers, including maleic anhydride copolymers w ith vinyl acetate, isopropenyl acetate, allyl acetate, trans-stilbene and acenaphthylene, respectively, and diethyl maleate copolymers with vinyl and isopropenyl acetate. Mechanisms of degradation are considere d. Several of these structurally regular copolymers show preferential side group decomposition in one of the two monomer units present in th e chain, with the result that a new copolymer structure can be prepare d by controlled partial degradation. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited .