STUDIES OF THE ANIONIC-POLYMERIZATION OF PHENYL VINYL SULFOXIDE AND ITS COPOLYMER WITH STYRENE

Phenyl vinyl sulfoxide (PVS) was polymerized in THF at -78 °C with various anionic initiators. Delocalized carbanion initiators such as (triphenylmethyl)lithium are effective initiators as are methyllithium and the dipole-stabilized 1-lithio-1-(phenylsulfinyl)ethane. There was excellent correlation between the measured molecular weight and the calculated molecular weight. The molecular weight distribution was found to be narrow. Initiation at ambient temperatures resulted in a bimodal distribution. A side reaction at higher temperatures was observed, leading to broadening of the molecular weight distribution. Both A-B and A-B-A block copolymerizations with styrene were carried out. The molecular weight distributions of the block copolymers were, in general, narrower than those of the homopolymers. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.