Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Vol.32, No.16, 3123-3132, 1994
Solution Polymerization of Vinyl Monomers in the Presence of Poly(N-Acetyliminoethylene) Macroazoinitiators
New block copolymers with poly(N-acetyliminoethylene) and vinyl sequences were obtained by a two-step synthetic approach. In the first stage macroinitiators of poly(N-acetyliminoethylene) type, with azo groups inserted in the main chain, were prepared. They were latter used in the radical polymerization of some vinyl monomers [styrene, methacrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, beta-(N-carbazolyl)ethyl acrylate, beta-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl 3,5-dinitrobenzoate]. The resulting block copolymers were characterized by spectral methods, elemental analysis, gel permeation chromatography, and electron microscopy. The kinetic study of the thermal and photochemical decomposition of the synthesized macroazoinitiators, as well as the polymerization data, suggest a dependence of their initiating efficiency on the length of the poly(N-acetyliminoethylene) segments.