| abstract |
Prepn. of branched polymers (P) by radical polymerisation comprises the following two steps: (1) 10-500 pts. wt. at least one monomer (M1) is polymerised using one or more polymerisation initiator (PI), in the presence of 0.1-20 pts. wt. mercaptan (PM) contg. an olefinic, radical polymerisation double bond, as mol. wt. regulator, and opt. in the presence of an inert, non-aq. solvent (L) which completely dissolves (M1), (PM) and the copolymer prod. (M11), using cpds. (M1) and (PM) which contain polymerisable double bonds with equal reactivity expressed by a copolymerisation parameter (r) of 0.1-10; and (2) 20-1000 pts. wt. monomer (M2), opt. in (L), and 0.01-10 pts. wt. satd. mol. wt. regulator (GM) are added to the reaction mixt. from step (1), and the mixt. is polymerised using one or more (PI). |