Diphenyl-ditelluride-initiated alternating co-polymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with methyl methacrylate

Abstract

The free radical co-polymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and methyl methacrylate was carried out at 60°C in the presence of diphenyl ditelluride using 1,4-dioxane as the solvent. The kinetic expression is R _p ∝ [DPDT]^0.5 [MMA][NVP]. The energy of activation has been computed as 50 kJ/mol. The presence of tellurium in the co-polymer has been confirmed by qualitatively, as well as induced coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The FT-IR spectrum of the co-polymer shows the bands at 1728 cm⁻¹ and 1680 cm⁻¹ due to ester and ketonic stretching of MMA and NVP, respectively. The monomer sequence distribution has been given by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. The co-monomer feed composition was observed to have a strong effect on the overall co-polymerization rate. The reactivity ratio of the binary system was determined, using the Kelen–Tüdos method, to be r _(MMA) = 0.043 and r _(NVP) = 0.016, indicating an alternating tendency in the formed co-polymer.

Keywords:

• DIPHENYL DITELLURIDE
• N-VINYL-2-PYRROLIDONE
• METHYL METHACRYLATE
• ALTERNATED MICROSTRUCTURE