The Transition Polymerization of Crotonamide

Abstract

The transition polymerization of crotonamide by basic catalyst was studied. It was found that poly-β-aminobutyric acid was obtained from crotonamide in relatively high yield by using potassium t-butoxide or sodium t-butoxide as catalyst in pyridine or chlorobenzene.
The initial reaction may be represented as follows; CH₈CH=CHCONH₂+t-BuOM→t-BuOH+CH₈CH=CHCONHM where M: potassium or sodium.
Then, the transition polymerization occurs, and the polymer which has an olefinic end group is obtained. A reaction rate equation of polymerization of crotonamide in pyridine using potassium t-butoxide as a catalyst is expressed as follows;
In [monomer] ₀/[monomer] =k_c [catalyst](time)
where [monomer] ₀: the initial concentration of monomer., k_e: the rate constant.
The apparent activation energy is 10.8 kcal/mol.