The ability of macromonomers to copolymerize: A critical review with new developments

Abstract

The first part of this article critically examines the various studies dealing with the ability of macromonomers to copolymerize. The conclusions drawn from these investigations, concerning the influence of the molecular weight of the macromonomer on its reactivity, are contradictory. Owing to the systems selected, other parameters are also involved in the reactivity of macromonomers that make it difficult to settle the controversy. In the second part, our own results on the reactivity of macromonomers are reported. The system chosen exhibits the advantage to remove all the complicating features connected with the incompatibility between polymers. It results that the side group associated with the unsaturation plays the major role in decreasing the reactivity of the macromonomer which is shown in addition to be independent of the macromonomer chain length. The criteria allowing to predict, for a given system, the macromonomer behaviour in a copolymerization process are also given.