THE EFFECT OF CONFORMATION OF P-CHLOROPHENOL VINYL ETHER ON ITS COMPLEXATION AND COPOLYMERIZATION WITH MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE

A kinetic study of the mechanism of radical alternating copolymerization of p-chlorophenol vinyl ether and maleic anhydride is conducted. Based on IR spectroscopic data and quantum chemical calculations, it is shown that the donor-acceptor complex formed by the monomers is mainly stabilized by the benzene ring pi-system, which applies both to a planar and to a nonplanar conformation of the vinyl ether. This is indicative of a lower reactivity of the complexed monomers compared to the free ones. The growth of the polymer chain occurs through addition of the free monomers to the growing macroradical. Despite an appreciable concentration of the donor-acceptor complexes, they are not involved in the reaction of the chain growth.