PECULIARITIES OF LOW-TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS OF POLY(METHYLPENTENESULFONE)

Peculiarities of low-temperature alternating copolymerization of sulfur dioxide with 2-methyl-1-pentene initiated by tert-butyl hydroperoxide were studied. Viscous medium is necessary for the formation of high-molecular-mass polysulfone with high yield; moreover, in the limiting case, the solid phase is required. This is achieved when copolymerization is performed in bulk, yielding polysulfone that is insoluble in a mixture of the monomers or at temperatures below the melting point of one of the components of the reaction system (sulfur dioxide). In this case, the effect of initiator is prolonged, bimolecular termination changes to monomolecular, and ''caging'' of macroradicals prevents their mutual diffusion. This leads to a change in the ratio of rate constants of. elementary reactions and, as as a result, affects the overall reaction rate and molecular mass of polysulfone.