Mechanism of carbochain formation in potassium-initiated anionic polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate

Using the methods of isothermal calorimetry; IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy; rheokinetics; and exclusion and liquid chromatography under critical conditions, the kinetics of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate polymerization initiated by a metallic potassium was studied. It was shown that carbon chain fragments arise through the addition of a carbanion to the double bonds of molecules and the kinetics of this process is determined by competition between reactions of the carbanion with hydroxyl groups and the alkoxide anion with acidic CH groups of an alpha-carbon atom at the carbonyl group. These reactions define the acid-base equilibrium in polymerizing systems, with the contribution of the radical constituent to the formation of carbochains being negligibly small.