Radical polymerization of ethyl acrylate with dead end polymerization conditions

The radical polymerization of ethyl acrylate (EA) with 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric)acid as initiator was investigated in propionitrile at 363 K in order to obtain carboxy-telechelic oligo(ethyl acrylate). The results of functionality and molecular weights showed that a transfer reaction had occurred. A molecular weight study was performed in order to show the importance of transfer to solvent due to the high reactivity of the EA radical. Finally, the radical polymerization was investigated at very low temperature (253–273 K), using a redox system initiation. A behavior of dead end polymerization was observed but the activation energy of propagation for EA is still high and does not allow the synthesis of a telechelic oligomer.