This paper is a review describing the results of previously reported experimental work on vinyl esters derived from agricultural products. In particular, the reactivity ratios of a wide variety of vinyl esters with other vinyl monomers are reviewed. Also, the properties of a variety of vinyl ester-vinyl chloride copolymers are surveyed.For the past eight years a research group has been working on the preparation of polymers from monomers obtained from various agricultural products. The work, initiated at the University of Illinois and continued at the University of Arizona, has dealt with a wide variety of monomers derived from cereal grains, oil seeds, animal fats, sugar cane, and naval stores. For this review, the topic is the polymerization of vinyl esters which have been synthesized from these various source materials.
Reactivity RatiosOne of the first projects undertaken was a study of the reactivity ratios of the vinyl esters of a wide variety of acids with various other polymerizable monomers (ff) to learn something about the composition of the products which might be readily prepared and what charging ratios would lead to the most homogeneous products. Previous work had given values for vinyl acetate, vinyl formate, vinyl palmitate, vinyl stearate, and vinyl trifluoroacetate with such monomers as vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, acrylonitrile, styrene, methyl acrylate, and vinyl acetate.