Copolymerization of N-Arylmaleimides with Methyl Methacrylate

Copolymerization parameters of a pair of monomers provide valuable information on the correlation between chemical structure and reactivity. Poly(methy1 methacrylate) has been widely used in the field of plastics technology because of its crystal clear transparency and useful combination of mechanical, chemical, thermal, and electric properties [1]. Poly(N-aryl-maleimides) and poly(N-alkylmaleimides) are well known for their thermal behavior [2-4]. Some reports on the synthesis of copolymers of methyl methacrylate with N-phenylmaleimide and N-mono(halopheny1)maleimide and their thermal behavior are available [5,6]. The results of studies on the copolymerization of methyl methacrylates and three N-arylmaleimides are reported here.