Determination of microtacticity of poly(vinylketones) and their derivatives by NMR spectroscopies of carbon-13 and proton

Sequence distribution of atactic poly(phenylvinylketone) (PPVK) has been determined by ¹³C]-¹H]NMR spectroscopy. Quantitative analysis of the carbonyl pattern allows resolution into pentads with intensities fitting a first order Markov process. The carbonyl pattern of highly isotactic PPVK, initiated by diethylzinc, deviates strongly from Bernoullian statistics, as in the case of highly isotactic polymethylvinylketone (PMVK). For n-butyl-lithium initiated poly(isopropenylphenylvinylketone) (PIPK), the carbonyl pattern practically agrees with a Bernoullian distribution. Atactic PMVK, analyzed from the methylene and the carbonyl pattern in ¹³C] or ¹H]NMR, shows that the polymerization process is purely Bernoullian and quite different from that for poly(isopropenylmethylketone). Except for poly(methylallylalcohol) for which the tacticity can be determined, the resolution is too poor to allow a quantitative sequence distribution of poly(allylalcohols) or poly(allyltrifluoroacetates). ¹H] and ¹⁹F]NMR spectroscopies of these compounds do not give better results.