Anionic polymerization of α‐methylstyrene

Abstract

Abstract The polymerization of α‐methylstyrene catalyzed by sodium naphthalene has been studied below 0°. Measurable amounts of monomer remained in equilibrium with the polymer down to −40°, even though the color indicated that active chain ends were still present. This behavior is expected of α‐methylstyrene since, due to a low heat of polymerization, the reverse of the chain propagation step must be important at these temperatures. From the equilibrium monomer concentrations determined experimentally, the heat and entropy of polymerization of α‐methylstyrene has been calculated.