Abstract: | Polymerization of vinyl acetate initiated by β-picolinium p-chlorophenacylide was carried out at 30, 35, and 40°C, using conventional dilatometric technique. The initiator and the monomer exponent values were 0.80 ± 0.15 and unity, respectively. The polymerization was inhibited in the presence of hydroquinone, but was favored by nonpolar solvent and polymerization temperature. The energy of activation was 90.3 KJ mol?1. An average value of k/kt for the present system was found to be 0.37 × 10?2. The results are explained in terms of a radical mode of polymerization with degradative initiator transfer; the principal mode of termination, however, was bimolecular. |