Free radical copolymerization of acrylamide and linalool with functional group as a pendant

Linalool (LIN) and acrylamide (AM) have been copolymerized by benzoyl peroxide (BPO) in xylene at 75 degreesC for 40 min. The system follows the ideal kinetics with bimolecular termination and results in the formation of nearly alternating copolymer as evidenced from the reactivity ratios, r(1)(AM) = 0.3 and r(2)(LIN) = 0.05, which have been calculated by the Kelen-Tudos method. The overall activation energy of copolymerization is 40 kJ mol(-1). The Fourier transform infrared spectrum of the copolymer shows the presence of the band at 3395 cm(-1) due to the alcoholic group of LIN and at 1453 cm-1 due to the amide group of AM. The (HNMR)-H-1 spectrum shows peaks at 7.0-7.7delta due to the alcoholic group of LIN and at 6.3-7.0delta due to the amide group of AM. The Alfrey-Price Q-e parameters for LIN have been calculated as Q(2) = 0.274 and e(2) = -0.749. The mechanism of copolymerization has been elucidated. In this paper we also report on the measurement of Mark-Houwink constants in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 25 degreesC by means of gel permeation chromatography (GPC) as alpha = 0.50 and K = 7.5 x 10(-4) dl g(-1). The thermal decompositions of the copolymer are established with the help of the thermal gravimetric analysis technique.