Stereoregularity of radically polymerized poly(alkyl acrylates) and poly(trimethylsilyl acrylates) and the preparation of syndiotactic poly(methyl acrylate)

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to determine the stereoregularity of radically polymerized poly(ethyl acrylates), poly(trimethylsilyl acrylates), and poly(isopropyl acrylate‐α,β‐ d 2 ). The ethyl acrylate polymers consisted of a random configuration having about 50% of isotactic diads, and their stereoregularities were independent of the polymerization temperature (40 to −78°C). Poly(trimethylsilyl acrylates) and poly(isopropyl acrylate‐α,β‐ d 2 ) prepared at low temperatures had a syndiotactic configuration. Syndiotactic poly(methyl acrylate) was derived from syndiotactic poly(trimethylsilyl acrylate). For poly(methyl acrylate), an approximate estimation of the stereoregularity by infrared spectroscopy was proposed.