Polymerization of vinyl chloride and copolymerization with carbon monoxide by a new initiator

The system comprising the ethoxydized product of triethylaluminum, cuprous chloride, and carbon tetrachloride was used as an initiator for polymerization of vinyl chloride, and the polymerization kinetics was studied. From plots of the molar number of number‐average polymer chain Y/P̄ versus yield Y, the two parameters a ( = ∫ Ridt − 1/2 ∫ Rtdt) and b ( = ∫ Rtrdt/∫ Rpdt) were estimated to be 6 × 10−3 mole/l. and 6.6 × 10−4 respectively. Studies of the tacticity of the poly(vinyl chloride) showed isotactic = 49.3% and syndiotactic = 50.7%. The present initiator also permitted copolymerization of vinyl chloride with carbon monoxide; the monomer reactivity ratios were r1 = 0.40 (vinyl chloride) and r2 = 0.01 (carbon monoxide).