Solvent effects on radical polymerization of cyclododecyl acrylate, 2. Copolymerization

The radical copolymerization of cyclododecyl acrylate (CDA) with styrene (St) or acrylonitrile (AN) was studied in bulk, benzene, tetrahydrofuran, or dioxane at 60°C, and was compared with that of cyclohexyl acrylate (CHA). In the copolymerization with St, the change in the ester groups or the used solvents influenced the reactivity of both acrylates in the same manner as their homopolymerization rates. Approximately, CDA and CHA behaved like methyl methacrylate in the copolymerization with St. Contrary, in the cases of copolymerization of CDA with AN, peculiar results were obtained and interpreted in terms of characteristic association states of the monomers in the solutions. In benzene solution both the monomer reactivity ratios, r₁ and r₂, are larger than unity (M₁ = AN, M₂ = CDA; r₁ = 1,7, r₂ = 2,0).