Terpolymerization of maleic anhydride with vinyl monomers

The relative reactivity of vinyl monomers characterized by electron donor and electron acceptor properties in free radical terpolymerization with maleic anhydride has been compared on the basis of product composition analysis. Terpolymers containing ca. 50 mol % of maleic anhydride were obtained in systems containing two electron donor monomers and the relative reactivity of them increases in the following order: 1-hexene < propylene ≈ isobutylene < styrene < isoprene < 1,3-butadiene. In systems consisting of an electron donor monomer and two electron acceptor monomers (i.e., maleic anhydride and an acrylic monomer), the composition of the terpolymers formed depends essentially on the resonance stabilization of the electron donor monomer. With a rise of their resonance stabilization, the content of acrylic monomeric units decreases and the share of alternating sequences of the electron donor and maleic anhydride monomeric units increases. It was found that the relative reactivity of maleic anhydride in all such systems is much greater than that predicted on the basis of reactivity ratios determined in binary systems. The relative reactivity of the studied acrylic monomers decreases in the order: methyl methacrylate > methyl acrylate > acrylonitrile. In the presence of catalytic amounts of ZnCl₂ the content of acrylic monomeric units clearly increases in the products obtained, mainly as a result of homopropagation. The results obtained are discussed in terms of the classical mechanism of propagation and the complex participation model.