Polymerization of coordinated monomers. IV. Copolymerization of methyl methacrylate– and methacrylonitrile–Lewis acid complexes with styrene

Complexes of methyl methacrylate and methacrylonitrile with Lewis acids (SnCl4, AlCl3, and BF3) were copolymerized with styrene at −75°C under irradiation with a high‐pressure mercury lamp in toluene solution. The resulting copolymers consisted of equimolar amount of methyl methacrylate or methacrylonitrile and styrene, regardless of the molar ratio of monomers in the feed. NMR spectroscopy showed the copolymers to have an alternate sequence. The tacticities of the copolymers varied with the complex to have an alternate sequence. The tacticities of the copolymers varied with the complex species: the copolymer from the SnCl4 complex system had a higher cosyndiotactieity, while those from the AlCl3 and the BF3 complex systems showed coisotacticity to predominate over cosyndiotacticity. NMR spectroscopic investigation of the copolymerization system indicated the presence of a charge‐transfer complex between the styrene and the methyl methacrylate coordinated to SnCl4. The concentration of the charge‐transfer complex was estimated to be about 30% of monomer pairs at −78°C at a 1:1 molar ratio of feed. The growing end radicals were identified as a methyl methacrylate radical for the AlCl3 complex–styrene system and a styrene radical for the SnCl4 complex–styrene system by the measurement of the ESR spectra of the copolymerization systems under or after irradation with a high‐pressure mercury lamp. The tacticity of the resulting polymer appears to be controlled by the structure of the charge transfer complex. In the case of the SnCl4 complex a certain interaction of SnCl4 with the growing end radical seems to be a factor controlling the polymer structure. These copolymerizations can be explained by an alternating charge‐transfer complex copolymerization scheme.