SEQUENTIAL IDENTIFICATION OF POLYMER MICROSTRUCTURES BY HETERONUCLEARNMR CORRELATIONS

A description of a systematic NMR methodology for the characterization of polymers in solution is presented. The method utilizes a set of tw o dimensional (2D) heteronuclear NMR correlation experiments. It is es pecially optimized for polymers that have characteristic short spin-sp in relaxation times. Microstructures of homopolymers and copolymers ar e determined objectively since the analysis is based only on near neig hbor correlations of all carbon and hydrogen atoms. Applications to po ly(acrylic acid) and ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer are presented.