Thermal degradation of copolymers of styrene and acrylonitrile. II. Reaction products

Abstract Hydrogen cyanide is a minor product of degradation of copolymers of styrene and acrylonitrile. The liquid products have been separated and identified by combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), as styrene, acrylonitrile, toluene, and benzene. The ratio of styrene to acrylonitrile monomers in the products is approximately twice that of the monomer units in the copolymers, and the ratios of styrene to toluene and benzene are the same as are obtained from pure polystyrene. These ratios were determined by using infrared spectral methods. The fraction of products volatile at the temperature of degradation but involatile at ambient temperature was also analyzed by using GC‐MS. A series of four dimers and four trimers were fairly reliably identified. The residual material from copolymers containing up to 33.4% acrylonitrile is always soluble in toluene. The 50/50 copolymer and its residues are insoluble in toluene. Yellow coloration develops in the residues from high acrylonitrile copolymers at advanced stages of degradation. Infrared and ultraviolet spectra suggest that this is due to conjugated unsaturation in the polymer chain backbone which may be associated with the liberation of hydrogen cyanide from the acrylonitrile units.