SULFUR-CONTAINING POLYACRYLATES .3. UV-INDUCED COPOLYMERIZATION OF METHYL-METHACRYLATE WITH SOME DIMETHACRYLATES CONTAINING ETHER OR THIOETHER LINKAGE

The UV-induced copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MM) with 2,2'-thiobisethanol dimethacrylate (TEDM) and MM with 2,2'-oxybisethanol dimethacrylate (OEDM) was investigated for a wide range of the diester content (6-80 mol%) in the initial mixture. The influence of the feed composition on the course of copolymerization was determined. It was found that there exists a minimum on the plot of maximum yield of soluble copolymer versus diester content at a diester content of 30 mol%. The total copolymer yields were lower in the case of mixtures containing TEDM comonomer. Determination of the reactivity ratios gave the following values: for MM + TEDM r(a) = 0.21, r(b) = 4.59 and for MM + OEDM r(a) = 0.55, r(b) = 4.42. A possible explanation of the results obtained is discussed.