Study on polymerization of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and methyl methacrylate

The polymerization of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) with methyl methacrylate(MMA) was prepared using a cerium(IV) redox initiator system at 60 degrees C under nitrogen. The microstructures of the obtained polymers were characterized by NMR measurement and the DEFT technique, as well as by infrared spectroscopy. The mechanism of the polymerization reaction was determined from the microstructures of the derived polymers. It showed that the reaction leading to the polymerization formation was the carbon site of the ethylene of the EDTA. It was not the same as that suggested in the literature. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.