A study of the copolymerization of hydroxyethyl methacrylate and tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate

The free radical copolymerizations of hydroxyethyl methacrylate and tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate have been investigated at 50 degrees C. The compositions of polymers prepared at low conversions have been determined using C-13-NMR, and the glass transition temperatures determined by DSC. The copolymerizations were found to be best described by a terminal model with reactivity ratios of r(H) = 1.79 and r(T) = 0.76. The triad fraction sequence distributions have been calculated based on the terminal model and the calculated reactivity ratios. The glass transitions have been fitted to the Gordon-Taylor equation. The best value of the Gordon-Taylor constant was found to be k(H) = 1.42 +/- 0.2, indicating nonideal mixing of the two monomer components in the copolymers. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc