Polymerization of methyl methacrylate with dimethylbenzylanilinium chloride

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Abstract
In order to clarify the mechanism of initiation by dimethylbenzylanilinium chloride (DMBAC), the polymerization of methyl methacrylate with DMBAC has been investigated at 60–80°C. From the results of kinetic and tracer studies, it was found that this polymerization proceeded via a radical mechanism and benzyl radical was not an initiating species. However, it was also noted that DMBAC easily dissociated into dimethylaniline and benzyl chloride under the present conditions, and the overall activation energy for the methyl methacrylate polymerization was 14.6 kcal/mole. These observations indicate that initiating radicals other than benzyl radical, i.e., phenyl or methyl radicals, may be produced through a redox interaction between DMBAC and dimethylaniline dissociated from DMBAC.