Kinetic Features of Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization of Ketene Acetals

This paper is the first generalization of the material accumulated in the kinetic study of the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ketene acetals. The main attention is focused on the difference between the kinetics of radical polymerization of these monomers and the kinetics of polymerization of vinyl monomers. The difference in the mechanisms of elementary events of chain initiation and termination is revealed. Kinetic features of the controlled polymerization of cyclic ketene acetals occurring by reversible inhibition, atom transfer, and reversible-addition fragmentation chain-transfer mechanisms are considered.