Preparation and Properties of Rubberlike High Polymers. II. Polymerization of Mixtures in Bulk

Mixtures of butadiene and dimethylbutadiene with varying quantities of styrene and acrylonitrile were copolymerized under various catalytic conditions at 100° C. The formation of cyclic dimers from dienes and vinyl compounds is, in some cases, much more pronounced than the dimerization of the dienes alone. Since the latter is also a kind of Diels-Alder reaction, a series with increasing dienophilic properties can be established from a comparison of the yields of cyclic dimers. From solubility and swelling experiments it is evident that the polymers prepared from butadiene and the vinyl compounds and those from dimethylbutadiene and acrylonitrile are true copolymers. The mechanical properties of the copolymers from butadiene and increasing amounts of a vinyl compound change gradually from those of a rubber to those of the polyvinyl compound. The copolymers from a mixture containing 30 per cent styrene or acrylonitrile are very similar to Buna-S and Perbunan, respectively. Copolymers of the same composition from dimethylbutadiene and acrylonitrile, on the other hand, form a new class of thermoplastics with a much higher temperature of elasticity.