Kinetics of alternating copolymerization

The rates of copolymerization of three monomer pairs which form only alternating copolymers have been studied. The monomer pairs were vinyl isobutyl ether–diethyl fumarate, vinyl isobutyl ether–maleic anhydride, and 1‐octene–maleic anhydride. It was shown that the maximum copolymerization rate occurs at [M 1 ]/[M 2 ] ratios which differ significantly from unity, for a fixed total monomer concentration ([M 1 ] + [M 2 ]). An equation for the rate of copolymerization for alternating systems is given and the results are discussed in terms of the equation.