Historic Account of the Development in the Understanding of the Propagation Kinetics of Acrylate Radical Polymerizations

Acrylates and methacrylate polymers are widely used in a variety of applications such as coatings, adhesives, and synthetic rubbers. In a continuous effort to increase the understanding and control over the radical (co)polymerizations of acrylate monomers the kinetic parameters, such as the propagation and termination rate constants, need to be determined. In particular, the propagation rate coefficients of the family of acrylate monomers have been a topic of intense scientific study over the last 10 years or so. In the last decade an almost full understanding of the complicated aspects of acrylate radical polymerizations has been established. It is the purpose of this essay to give a short historic account of the developments in this understanding of acrylate radical polymerizations.