ON THE PHOTOPOLYMERIZATION OF CARBON-DISULFIDE

Continuous irradiation with UV light of CS2 produces carbon monosulfide (C=S) which is detected by its absorption at 262 nm in CCl4 solution. C=S undergoes a further reaction to carbon subsulfide (S=C=C=C=S) which is detected by its absorption at about 450 nm. CS2 also undergoes direct photopolymerization to (CS2)(x) soluble oligomers which absorb at about 400-430 nm and then give the insoluble polymer. The solid photopolymer CS2 prepared by its irradiation in bulk and under N-2 appears at the IR analysis fully analogous to the piezopolymer of CS2 obtained at 33 000 atm. Based on IR and elemental analysis data, it is proposed that the photopolymer is composed of a mixture of (CS2)(x) and (C3S2)(x), as in the case of the piezopolymer Oxygen seems to interfere with the photopolymerization of CS2 giving a polymer with poor elemental analyses when the polymerization is performed in air. By irradiating CCl4 solutions of CS2, a mixture of (C3C2)(x) and (CS2)(x) are obtained with the former polymer being largely the main component.