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The polymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile is initiated by the amide ion in liquid ammonia, the product being a low molecular weight polymer containing one NH2 group per polymer chain. Other negative ions such as the triphenyl methyl anion also initiate polymerization. Certain disubstituted olefines such as α‐methylstyrene and diphenyl ethylene do not undergo polymerization but react with the amide ion forming intensely red‐coloured solutions. A mechanism for the polymerization is suggested, and the predicted dependence of molecular weight upon the concentration of potassium amide and of monomer (styrene) is in reasonable agreement with that observed in the concentration ranges studied in detail. The energetics of the initiation and termination reactions are discussed and the observed behavior of various monomers with a series of different anions is semi‐quantitatively explained.
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Evans et al. (1949) studied this question.
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