Copolymerization Characteristics of Methyl Acrylate and Methyl Methacrylate. II. Analysis of Methyl Acrylate-Methyl Methacrylate Copolymers by Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract The infrared absorption spectra of polymers and copolymers of methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate have been measured, and then used as the basis of a spectrophotometric method for the analysis of the copolymers. The 6.73 μ band, which may be due to methyl (–C–CH3) vibration, was selected as the key band for measuring the methyl methacrylate component, while the 6.89 μ band was used as the standard. The monomer reactivity ratios for copolymerization of methyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate system have been determined to be r1=0.5±0.1, and r2=2.3±0.4 (M1 methyl acrylate, M2; methyl methacrylate) at 130°C. These values are in good agreement with those previously obtained by the deuterium tracer method. It has also been shown that the procedure used in this study is appropriate for the analyses of methyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymers.