p-acetyl benzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide initiated radical terpolymerization of styrene,acrylonitrile and copper acrylate: synthesis,characterization and properties

Solution terpolymerization of styrene (Sty), acrylonitrile (AN) and copper acrylate (CuA) has been carried out in dimethylformamide at 90°C for 4 h using p-acetyl benzylidene triphenylarsonium ylide as radical initiator. ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), IR and elemental analysis have been used to characterized the terpolymer. Analysis of kinetic data indicates the following rate equation: The overall activation energy is 38 kJ mol⁻¹. The composition of terpolymer calculated from NMR and elemental analysis has been used to evaluate reactivity ratios as r₁(Sty) = 5 ± 2 and r₂(AN + CuA) = 0.4 ± 0.02 employing the Finemann–Ross method, which confirms its random origin. The terpolymer was thermally stable up to 2007deg;C.