Model copolymerization reactions: Evidence against participation of a donor–acceptor complex in reactions of the l‐butyl radical with N‐phenylmaleimide and styrene

The participation of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes in radical copolymerizations has been the subject of hundreds of research papers? Complex participation has been invoked to explain the formation of alternating copolymer, as well as the variations in overall copolymerization rate with changes in temperature, solvent, or monomer concentration, that are frequently observed in copolymerizations of donor (D) and acceptor (A) olefin. Most recently, Olson and Butler have suggested that complex participation might also be required to explain the stereochemistry, or the regiochemistry, of certain radical copolymerizations.