Acrylonitrile Copolymerizations. III. Flash Pyrolysis of Methyl Methacrylate and Styrene Copolymers

Flash pyrolysis of the copolymers acrylonitrile-methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile-styrene has been carried out over the whole range of compositions, and yields of the monomers have been measured. In the first case, all of the methyl methacrylate is recovered as monomer except when a unit is isolated between two acrylonitrile segments. However, the yield in acrylonitrile monomer is lower; it corresponds to the units isolated between long sequences of methyl methacrylate plus the isolated acrylonitrile diads. The agreement between the calculated and experimental yields is excellent only if one takes into account the penultimate effects. In the second case, however, it is not possible to deduce a quantitative interpretation of the yields of either styrene or acrylonitrile monomers.