High-field NMR of ethylene—sulfur dioxide copolymers

Copolymers of ethylene and sulfur dioxide containing 40–60 wt-% sulfur dioxide have been analyzed by using 220 MHz high-resolution NMR, and it has been shown that they contain structures of the form, ? SO₂? (CH₂? CH₂)_n? SO₂? , where n is 1, 2, 3, 4, … The relative numbers of structures with n = 1, 2, 3, or 4 and above can be calculated from the NMR spectra. The fraction of ethylenes in longer blocks and the sulfur dioxide contents of the polymers can also be determined from the NMR data. The NMR results indicate that the distribution of ethylenes among the different structures is not that expected for a random copolymerization of ethylene and sulfur dioxide but that the arrangement of these structures within the copolymer is random.