Cationic Copolymerization of Dimethylstyrenes and Styrene by Lewis Acid as Catalyst

Abstract

The copolymerization of 2, 4-, 2, 5-, 2, 6-, 3, 4-, and 3, 5-dimethylstyrene with styrene was carried out by using a various combination of catalyst (SnCl₄, AlBr₃, TiCl₄, BCl₃, and BBr₃) and solvent (tetrachloromethane, 1, 2-dichloroethane, and nitrobenzene). The reactivity of the monomers was investigated in detail and was found to change in a complicated way by combined effects of various factors such as acidity of catalyst, dielectric constant of solvent and monomer structure.