The alkaline hydrolysis of six different copolymers of methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate having acid contents of 28.9, 49.5, 58.5, 66, 72, and 83 mole‐% was studied. At pH values smaller than 12.5 the reaction mechanism is principally intramolecular, as a result of neighboring acid‐ester group interactions. Both the chemical composition and the stereochemical configuration of the polymers exert a strong influence on the course of the reaction. In strongly alkaline medium, the hydrolysis results primarily from the external action of hydroxyl ions, except in the case of a copolymer containing 83 mole‐% acid, in which the reaction again results essentially from an intramolecular mechanism.
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Smets et al. (1959) studied this question.