Vinyl polymerization by a manganese(III) complex

Bis(diethanolamine) manganate(III) was prepared. The polymerization of acrylamide and methacrylamide initiated by this complex in aqueous solution at pH 0.9 was studied at 45°. The rate of polymerization was followed by bromometry, the rate of complex disappearance spectrophotometrically and the molecular weights of the polymers were determined viscometrically. The rate of polymerization was found to be proportional to [Monomer]^1.0. The order with respect to initiator was found to be 0.5 for acrylamide and 0.3 for methacrylamide. The apparent overall activation energies for the polymerizations are ?87 kJ mol^?1 and ?59 kJ mol^?1 for acrylamide and methacrylamide respectively. A kinetic reaction scheme is proposed on the basis of the experimental data; kinetic parameters have been evaluated.