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DETAIL
Preparation
Vinyl acetate is the acetate ester of vinyl alcohol. Since vinyl alcohol is highly unstable (with respect to acetaldehyde), the preparation of vinyl acetate is more complex than the synthesis of other acetate esters.
The major industrial route involves the reaction of ethylene and acetic acid with oxygen in the presence of a palladium catalyst.
The main side reaction is the combustion of organic precursors.
Polymerization
It can be polymerized to give polyvinyl acetate (PVA). With other monomers it can be used to prepare various copolymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), vinyl acetate-acrylic acid (VA/AA), polyvinyl chloride acetate (PVCA), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (Vp/Va copolymer, used in hair gels). Due to the instability of the radical, attempts to control the polymerization by most "living/controlled" radical processes have proved problematic. However, RAFT (or more specifically, MADIX) polymerization offers a convenient method of controlling the synthesis of PVA by the addition of a xanthate or a dithiocarbamate chain transfer agent.