| Abstract: | It was found that styrene was polymerized with chlorosilane compounds and metal halides in 1,2-dichloroethane. The rate of polymerization of styrene was proportional to the concentration of styrene, trimethylchlorosilane, and mercuric chloride. The overall activation energy of polymerization was ?2.9 kcal/mole. The polymer yield decreased markedly on addition of ether into the polymerization system, and the infrared spectrum showed evidence of silicone fragments in the polymer. From the results, it was considered that the polymerization was initiated by a siliconium cation. The formation of a complex between trimethylchlorosilane and metal halides (i.e., ferric chloride) was confirmed by the continuous variation method of ultraviolet and visible absorption spectra. |
