Synthesis of Functional and Alternating Copolymer of α-Terpineol with Butylmethacrylate

Benzoylperoxide initiated free radical copolymerization of butylmethacrylate (BMA) with α-terpineol in xylene at 80 ± 0.1°C, under the inert atomosphere of nitrogen has been studied. The system follows ideal kinetics with an overall activation energy of 65 kJ/mol. The copolymer(s) were characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, and DSC. The presence of alcoholic group of α-terpineol and methoxy group of BMA at 7.2–7.7 δ and 3.2–4.0 δ in the NMR spectra and a band at 3436 cm−1 and 1732 cm−1 in FTIR spectrum, respectively, suggest the formation of the copolymer. The alternating nature of the copolymer is confirmed by the values of the reactivity ratios r 1 (BMA) = 0.04 and r 2 (α-terpineol) = 0.006 which are calculated by the Kelen–Tüdos method. The glass transition temperature (T g ), determined with differential scanning calorimetry, is 64°C. The mechanism of copolymer has been elucidated.