GB772746A - Styrene polymers - Google Patents

Abstract

Copolymers soluble in or compatible with benzine are prepared from (a) one or more esters derived from acrylic or methacrylic acid and a saturated aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohol containing more than 8 carbon atoms constituting 20 to 40 per cent by weight of the total monomers; and (b) styrene or nuclear substituted styrene and, optionally, an additional polymerisable vinyl compound. Component (a) may comprise the decyl, dodecyl, cetyl, octadecyl, and cyclohexyl-cyclohexyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid and the styrene may be nuclear substituted by alkyl, alkoxy, halogen or aryl residues. In a modification component (a) may include an ester of a polymerizable organic acid other than acrylic or methacrylic acid and a saturated aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohol containing more than 8 carbon atoms, e.g. trimethyl cyclohexyl, t.-butyl cyclohexyl and cyclohexyl-cyclohexyl esters and half esters of ethylene-a ,b -dicarboxylic acids such as fumaric or maleic acid. The optional vinyl compound may be vinyl acetate, or an ester derived from a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic alcohol containing not more than 8 carbon atoms and a polymerizable organic acid, e.g. methyl, ethyl and cyclohexyl esters of acrylic, methacrylic, fumaric, and maleic acids or amides thereof or acrolein or methacrolein. Polymerization may be carried out in solution, in bulk or in an aqueous suspension or emulsion using catalysts such as benzoyl peroxide, redox systems, or azo compounds, ultra-violet light and heat, and regulators such as diisopropylxanthogen disulphide. In examples, styrene and the dodecyl or octadecyl ester of methacrylic acid, with or without methyl methacrylate, the cyclohexyl ester of methacrylic acid and the dicyclohexyl ester of fumaric acid, are copolymerized in bulk or in solution in benzine using benzoyl peroxide, or in aqueous dispersion containing polyvinyl alcohol using lauroyl peroxide and diisopropylxanthogen disulphide. Lacquers are formed by the addition of chlorinated diphenyl, linseed oil or phthalic acid resins to a benzine solution of the copolymer. Specification 491,800, [Group IV], is referred to.