By the method reported in the previous paper, thermal cracking of radically polymerized poly-α-cyanoacrylates and its mechanism have been studied. The weight reduction velocities at 200°C were found to decrease in the following order: ethyl>methyl>isopropyl>2-ethyihexyl>n-butyl>isobutyl. This could be expressed by a first order reaction in polymer concentration, and the activation energieswere calculated to be : methyl 22.7, ethyl 22.9, isopropyl 24.2, n-butyl 32.1, isobutyl 31.4, and 2-ethylhexyl 25.5 Kcal/mol. It was found that heat decomposition took place by a radical mechanism. In all cases excluding cyclohexyl polymers, the scission reaction occured on the skeletal chain. Under intense heating, however, side chain degradation also became detectable. Cyclohexyl polymers tend to liberate a large amount of cyclohexene under relatively mild conditions indicating the occurrence of side chain cleavage.
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