ELECTROINITIATED POLYMERIZATION OF 2-VINYLNAPHTHALENE

As part of a program to extend the range of donor-acceptor-initiated polymerization processes, the electroinitiation of 2-vinylnaphthalene in a zinc chloride-sulfolane solution has been studied. Good conversion yields of well-characterized (NMR, IR, GPC, elemental analysis) poly(vinylnaphthalene) were obtained with the process showing several mechanistic similarities to other donor-acceptor salt electropolymerization systems. The high degree of conversion and the good product characterizations obtained in these electroinitiated polymerizations confirms the effectiveness of this donor-acceptor salt method as a polymerization technique. The molecular weights and the broad distributions are characteristic of such electroinitiated processes, whether homopolymerization or copolymerization. Improvements in molecular weight could, of course, be achieved through solvent choice and control over the initiation process.