Final answer:
Methyl acrylate can be polymerized through anionic polymerization due to its vinyl group and the presence of an electron-withdrawing group, allowing for the stable growth of the polymer chain through initiation by an initiator anion and propagation processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Methyl acrylate (H2C=CHCO2CH3) can be polymerized through anionic polymerization because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond (vinyl group) that can be attacked by an anion. Anionic polymerization is a type of chain-growth polymerization where the active species is an anion. This method is favorable for molecules like methyl acrylate because they can stabilize the negative charge formed during initiation, typically due to the presence of an electron-withdrawing group, such as the ester group in methyl acrylate, that stabilizes the growing polymer chain.
The process begins with the formation of an initiator anion, which attacks the carbon-carbon double bond to create a new anion that adds to another monomer. This step, known as propagation, repeats, forming a polymer chain. Anionic polymerization allows for the production of polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution by controlling the conditions of the reaction, such as temperature and the concentration of the initiator and monomer.