Polymer-solvent interactions in mixed solvents, 2. Isotactic,syndiotactic and atactic poly(methacrylic acid-co-benzyl methacrylate) in water/2-chloroethanol mixtures

The viscosimetric behaviour and the preferential solvation of syndiotactic, isotactic and atactic copolymers of methacrylic acid and benzyl methacrylate are studied in water/2-chloroethanol mixtures. The experimental results show that the presence of benzyl groups stabilizes the compact structure. In the case of the syndiotactic samples, the extent of the preferential hydration domain, which is related to the existence of the compact structure, is dependent on the composition of the copolymer. Experimental results also suggest that the presence of the benzyl groups destabilizes the inverse compact structure existing in 2-chloroethanol-rich mixtures.