Studies on the mechanism of redox polymerization initiated by N-haloamines and iron(II)

Abstract

The mechanism of the redox polymerization of methyl methacrylate in aqueous medium in the dark was studied for the redox initiator systems N-halodiethylamine+Fe(II) and triethylamine+halogen+Fe(II), by analysis of the polymer end groups using the dye partition method. In the case of chlorine, both these initiator systems incorporate only the amino group into the polymer to an extent of about one group per polymer molecule. The polymers are found to be free from chlorine. Furthermore, a large portion of the total amino groups introduced into the polymer, using the initiator system triethylamine+halogen+Fe(II) are quaternary in nature. In the case of bromine, both the initiator systems introduce only a bromine atom and no amino group into the polymer. The initiator systems containing chlorine prove to be useful for the preparation of polymers containing amino groups at the one end only.