Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of vinyl acetate with butyl acrylate and acrylonitrile

The emulsion copolymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) with butyl acrylate (BuA) and acrylonitrile (ACN) is studied. While both comonomers; exhibit a greater reactivity in copolymerization than VAc, the two systems behave distinctly. BuA imparts an enhanced reactivity resulting in higher yields of polymer and decomposed initiator, as compared to homopolymerization at high monomer concentration. In the case of ACN, the reactivity of the system is diminished due to a decreased rate of initiator decomposition. This behavior was tentatively assigned to the complexing ability of the initiator with ACN.