POLYMERIZABILITY OF METHYL ALPHA-SUBSTITUTED ACRYLATES CONTAINING METHOXYCARBONYL GROUPS

Dimethyl 4-methyl-1-pentene-2,4-dicarboxylate (3) and trimethyl 4-meth yl-1-octene-2,4,7-tricarboxylate (4) are not radically homopolymerizab le. Dimethyl 1-hexene-2,4-dicarboxylate (5) polymerizes slowly to yiel d a small amount of oligomers. Homopolymerization of dimethyl 1-butene -2,4-dicarboxylate (6) affords a high-molecular-weight polymer. Radica l copolymerization of these methyl alpha-substituted acrylates (M2) wi th styrene (M1) was carried out at 60-degrees-C using AIBN, and the fo llowing monomer reactivity ratios were obtained; 3: r1 = 0,983, r2 = 0 ,000; 4: r1 = 0,938, r2 = 0,000; 5: r1 = 0,672, r2 = 0,119; 6: r1 = 0, 566, r2 = 0,195. The polymerizability of these methyl acrylate derivat ives is influenced by the steric effect of the alpha-substituents.