Kinetic study of anionic oligomerization of styrene by quantitative SEC

By the method of the absolute quantitative SEC, a process of anionic oligomerization of styrene, initiated by n-butyl lithium, was followed. The concentration of 1–5-mer monodisperse species in different reaction times can be obtained by HPSEC separation. The results showed that the propagation rate constants increased with increasing chain length and converged to a constant. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.