Free radical polymerization of acrylonitrile: Mass spectrometric identification of the nitroxide-trapped oligomers formed in and estimated rate constants for each of the first eight propagation steps
Pb. Zetterlund et al., Free radical polymerization of acrylonitrile: Mass spectrometric identification of the nitroxide-trapped oligomers formed in and estimated rate constants for each of the first eight propagation steps, MACROMOLEC, 32(24), 1999, pp. 8041-8045
The first 10 addition products in the free radical polymerization of acrylo
nitrile initiated by AIBN have been trapped and identified; the resulting y
ields have allowed individual values of the first eight propagation rate co
nstants to be estimated. These are the first realistic experimentally based
estimates of a reasonable sequence of early propagation rate constants in
any free radical polymerization. In this experiment, the concentration of t
he nitroxide trapping agent was maintained at a level sufficiently high to
prevent the formation of high polymer, yet low enough to allow a competitiv
e monomer addition to form the lower members of the propagation series befo
re being trapped to form the oligomeric addition products. These oligomers
were identified and quantified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
operated in the selected ion recording mode in series with HPLC-UV. The re
sults have allowed the first eight individual propagation rate constants, k
(An) (n = 1-8), to be estimated:
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The values of k(An) at 75 degrees C decrease from 5.4 x 10(3) L mol(-1) s(-
1) with n = 1 to a minimum of 2.1 x 10(3) L mol(-1) s(-1) with n = 3 before
leveling off with a constant value of 4.8 x 10(3) L mol(-1) s(-1) at n > 5
.