| Abstract: | The composition of the copolymers of maleic anhydride (MA) with ethyl cinnamate (EC) and with anethole (ANE) polymerized in chloroform solutions with a radical initiator is reported. A strong alternating tendency is observed in the ANE-MA copolymer but EC is incorporated dominantly into the EC-MA copolymer. Both ANE and EC form 1 : 1 charge-transfer complexes with MA with the equilibrium constants determined to be 0,0845 and 0,026 L/mol, respectively. Applicability of the terminal, the penultimate and the complex participation models of the copolymerization mechanism is examined by non-linear least-square minimization technique using the most general forms of the composition equations. The complex participation model is found to be slightly in favor for both EC-MA and ANE-MA copolymerizations in CHCl3. |
