Abstract
Electroinitiated polymerization of acenaphthylene was found to occur in acetic anhydride or acetonitrile containing lithium perchlorate, potassium perchlorate, potassium fluoroborate, or tetra-n-butylammonium bromide at -7830°C.
The average molecular weights of the polymers obtained were in the range of 2, 0003, 000, much lower that of polyacenaphthylene prepared by the ordinary polymerization.
Results of the infra-red and visible spectroscopic studies indicated the presence of an acetoxy groups, possibly introduced by the termination reaction, in the polymers formed in acetic anhydride. Otherwise, the structures of those polymers were similar to that obtained by the ordinary polymerization.
The reaction mechanism has been discussed on the basis of Breitenbach's experiments.
