Polymerization of coordinated monomers. V. Polymerization of methyl methacrylate–Lewis acid complexes

The polymerization of the complex of methyl methacrylate with stannic chloride, aluminum trichloride, or boron trifluoride was carried out in toluene solution at several temperatures in the range of 60° to −78°C by initiation of α,α′‐azobisisobutyronicrile or by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. The tacticities of the resulting polymers were determined by NMR spectroscopy. Both the 1:1 and the 2:1 methyl methacrylate–SnCl4 complexes gave polymers with similar tacticities at the polymerization temperatures above −60°C. With decreasing temperature below −60°C, the isotacticity was more favored for the 2:1 complex, whereas the tacticities did not change for the 1:1 complex. On the ESR spectroscopy of the polymerization solution under the irradiation of ultraviolet rays at −120°C, the 1:1 SnCl4 complex gave a quintet, while the 2:1 SnCl4 complex gave both a quintet and a sextet. The sextet became weaker with increasing temperature and disappeared at −60°C. This behavior of the sextet corresponds to the change of the tacticities of polymer for the 2:1 SnCl4 complex. An intra–intercomplex addition was suggested for the polymerization of the 2:1 complex, which took a cis‐configuration on the basis of its infrared spectra. The sextet can be ascribed to the radical formed by the intracomplex addition reaction, while the quintet can correspond to that formed by the intercomplex addition reaction. The proportion of the intracomplex reaction was estimated to be about 0.25 at −75°C, and the calculated value of the probability of isotactic diad addition of the intracomplex reaction was found to be almost unity.