Copolymers of acrylic acid with 2‐acryloyloxyethyl 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetate: Synthesis and herbicide release

Free‐radical copolymerization of acrylic acid with 2‐acryloyloxyethyl 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetate using 1.0 mol/L 1,4‐dioxane solution and 1.5 × 10^?2 mol/L of 2,2′ azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator has been carried out at 50°C. In addition to low conversion solution experiments performed to estimate the monomer reactivity ratios, three different copolymerizations over the whole range of conversions have been made. Theoretical values of cumulative copolymer composition, determined by the Mayo‐Lewis terminal model, have been correlated with those experimentally obtained. Finally, the herbicide release in three different aqueous pH buffer solutions has been evaluated in heterogeneous phase. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 4238–4244, 2006