Macromers by carbocationic polymerization. IV. Synthesis and characterization of polyisobutenyl methacrylate macromer and its homopolymerization and copolymerization with methyl methacrylate

This article describes the synthesis and characterization of a new macromer, polyisobutenyl methacrylate (PIB-MA), its free-radical homopolymerization and copolymerization with methyl methacrylate (MMA) to afford the graft copolymer poly(methyl methacrylate-g-isobutylene) (PMMA-g-PIB), the characterization of these polymers, and some physical-mechanical (stress-strain) measurements of the graft copolymer. The key intermediate toward the synthesis of the target macromer was the preparation of polyisobutenyl chloride PIB-Cl^t by the minifer technique. As shown by ¹ H-NMR spectroscopy, and independently by IR spectroscopy coupled with M?_n determination, the PIB-MA macromer carries one terminal methacrylate function per polyisobutylene chain. The free-radical homopolymerization of PIB-MA to very high-molecular-weight product was achieved in bulk at 60°C. The free-radical copolymerization of PIB-MA with MMA also occurs readily and is a convenient route to PMMA-g-PIB. The reactivity of PIB-MA is almost identical to that of MMA; however, in highly viscous systems its rate of diffusion to the reaction site is reduced.