| Abstract: | The aqueous polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with sodium bisulfite as initiator was carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere with and without inorganic substances like copper metal, cupric and cuprous oxides, and cupric sulfide. It was also done in the presence of organocopper compounds like copper phthalocyanine and copper biphthalocyanine. The catalytic effect of these compounds was studied. Mildly heated cupric sulfide proved to have a small catalytic effect on the polymerization process that may be attributed to the retarding effect of the released elementary sulfur. The catalytic effect of the different copper compounds and the copper metal equivalent contained in them was studied. The polymerization process revealed that cuprous and cupric oxides possess the highest catalytic influence. An attempt was made to investigate the role of the different anions on the polymerization process. It was found that an increase on the concentration of the copper compounds leads to a corresponding increase in the catalytic effect. It was also observed that the behavior of insoluble copper catalysts is different from that of the soluble. The effect of these catalysts on the average molecular weight of the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) produced was also examined. |
