Preliminary study of cationic copolymerization of α-methylstyrene and isobutyl vinyl ether

Summary -Methyl styrène polymerization was carried out using t-BuCl/Et₂AlCl/CH₂Cl₂ system in the temperature range of 0° to –63.5°C. The effect of temperature on yield and molecular weights of Poly -Methyl styrene was determined. Based on Arrhenius plots, average activation energies of molecular weights were determined to be –9.2 ± 1.0 K cal/mole. (0° to 40°C) and 0 ± 0.5 K cal/mole (–40° to –63.5°C). These were postulated to reflect the molecular weight governing mechanisms such as transfer to monomer and termination respectively.