A rapid-injection NMR study of the effect of lithium alkoxides on the butyllithium-initiated polymerization and propagation of styrene

✍ Scribed by Craig A. Ogle; Xiao Li Wang; Clifford M. Carlin; Frederick H. Strickler; Bernard Gordon III

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 195 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-624X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0518(19990415)37:8<1157::aid-pola12>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

In studies carried out in THF at Ϫ80°C, lithium n-butoxide was found to speed up the initiation and to an even greater extent the rate of propagation in the alkyllithium-initiated polymerization of styrene. Bulky alkoxides were found to slow down the rate of polymerization by slowing both initiation and propagation although initiation was decreased to a greater extent than propagation. Five equivalents of lithium tert-butoxide stopped the initiation completely under these reaction conditions when n-butyllithium was used as an initiator.