General Method for Evaluation of Alternating Tendency in Copolymerization

A new method for deriving expressions for the mole fractions of alternating n-ads and the average lengths of the alternating sequences of n-component copolymers (n > 2) was developed based on the apparatus of finite Markov chains. These characteristics are considered as indexes of alternating tendency forn-component copolymerization. A specific property of n-component copolymerization (n > 3) compared with binary copolymerization is the fact that alternating n-ads might be constructed by two, three, or more types of monomeric units. In order to express this specific property of three and multi-component copolymers the term, alternating order, is introduced. The method developed in the paper permits the alternating indexes to be determined differentially in dependence of alternating order. Expressions for the average lengths and the compositions of all possible alternating sequences starting with a given monomer unit and ending with unit found only at that position, are derived as well. The alternating indexes for binary radical copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate and for ternary radical copolymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and acrylonitrile were determined.