Triad statistics in dependence of the reaction conditions during partial hydrolysis of syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate)

Syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) has been partially hydrolyzed under different reaction conditions, and the triad probabilities for the resulting copolymers have been determined. Copolymers could be prepared which show tendencies toward randomness, blockiness or alternation with respect to the distribution of monomer units. The statistics of the copolymers is described in terms of conditional probabilities. During the formation of the copolymers with block or alternation tendency, the neighboring monomer units in the chain appear to influence the rate of the hydrolysis reaction.