| Abstract: | It was found that the composition of cooligomer produced in the styrene(A)–methyl methacrylate(B)–CCl4(S) system deviates from the statistical steady-state composition predicted from the Mayo-Lewis equation on the low molecular weight side when the molar ratio of [A]/[B] is large. When the molar ratio of [A]/[B] is small, however, it is not obvious whether or not this phenomenon is observed, because the cooligomer of low molecular weight cannot be obtained easily since the chain transfer constant of the poly(methyl methacrylate) radical to CCl4 is very small in comparison, with that of the polystyryl radical. This behavior is shown to be attributable mainly to the preferential consumption of styrene monomer in the initiation step, based on the structure of the cooligomer, as inferred from the mechanism of the initiation, transfer, and termination, and the stochastic approach in which the cooligomerization process is regarded as a Markov process. |
