FT-Raman spectroscopic monitoring of the group-transfer polymerisation of methyl methacrylate

FT-Raman spectroscopy has been used to study the group-transfer polymerisation (GTP) of methyl methacrylate in tetrahydrofuran solvent with a tetrabutylammonium acetate catalyst at −65 °C. Although the spectroscopic study of the polymerisation of vinyl monomers has been reported hitherto, this is the first time that a GTP process has been studied quantitatively in this way. The in situ Raman spectroscopic monitoring of the band intensity of the 1638 cm−1 (CC) stretching mode of the methyl methacrylate monomer consumption with time using a remote fibre optic probe has enabled the evaluation of the rate constant of the reaction to be made. Comparison is effected with calculations carried out on the polymer propagation using a mechanistic kinetic model incorporating heat transfer data and refinement to the experimental data to estimate the activation energy of the reaction.