Synthesis and solution properties of comblike poly(mono‐n‐alkyl itaconates). I. Poly(monodecyl itaconate)

The monoester of itaconic acid with n‐decyl alcohol was prepared and polymerized. The polymer was fractionated and characterized by viscometry, size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC) and light scattering. Some of the common semiempirical relations for flexible and rigid polymers were used in order to obtain the unperturbed dimensions and the conformational parameters. Thermodynamic and dimensional parameters were determined and calculated. The results are compared with those reported previously for similar compounds.