ANALYSIS OF LINEAR METHODS FOR DETERMINING COPOLYMERIZATION REACTIVITY RATIOS .2. CRITICAL RE-EXAMINATION OF CATIONIC MONOMER REACTIVITY RATIOS

In this paper the authors analyzed and critized select cationic copolymerization systems in terms of the Kelen-Tudos equation. It is demonstrated that the use of this equation provides a consistent and comprehensive framework for quantitative comparison and evaluation of reliable reactivity ratios. The reexamination and analysis of all available r values is in progress. By means of this treatment erroneous r values may be identified and filtered out of the literature. Further detailed analyses of these inadequate systems are necessary and may yield better insight into the mechanism of cationic copolymerization. Also, this treatment is valuable for exposing experimentally ill characterized copolymer systems, systems which must be reinvestigated with improved techniques before they can be seriously considered. It is pointed out that systems in which the use of the copolymer composition equation is completely unjustified, the calculated r values are meaningless and in some cases the existence of true copolymers is questioned.