Radical polymerization of vinyl acetate using p-acetylbenzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide as an initiator

p-Acetylbenzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide initiated radical polymerizatio n of vinyl acetate in dioxane has been carried out at 65 +/- 0.1 degreesC i n polymerization tubes for 8 h under nitrogen. The initiator and monomer ex ponents are 0.44 and 1.5 respectively. The overall activation energy and va lue of k(p)(2)/k(t) are 35 kJ mol(-1) and 6.06 x 10(-3) 1 mol(-1) s(-1) res pectively. The ylide is believed to dissociate to generate phenyl radicals which initiate the radical polymerization of vinyl acetate. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.