Electron exchange polymers. XIX. Copolymerization behavior of vinylhydroquinone dibenzoate

The copolymerization behavior of vinylhydroquinone dibenzoate monomer (VHDB), in solution under free radical initiator conditions, with styrene, α‐methylstyrene, 4‐vinylpyridine, methyl methacrylate, and methyl acrylate, to less than 10% conversion, showed good copolymerizabilities with these conventional monomers. Rates of polymerization are greater in VHDB‐rich monomer compositions in spite of the bulky character of the benzoyl group. Q‐e values (Alfrey and Price) are given. The resonance term (Q1) for VHDB is near unity, which seems to indicate that the resonance effect in stabilizing the radical is almost as large as that of styrene The polarity term, e1, is assigned a positive value for VHDB. Ultraviolet absorption spectra of the copolymers imply neighboring group interactions in the copolymer chains—interactions implied by the observed Q‐e values, and implied in earlier work by electrometric titration behavior.