[sunken_shipp]

The paper states:

"A typical polymerisation procedure is as follows: X1 (34.6 mg, 0.178 mmol), VPA (500 mg, 4.62 mmol), AIBA (9.35 mg, 0.034 mmol) and distilled water (615 mL) were put together in a Schlenk flask. The solution was then degassed by gently bubbling argon for 15 mins. After that, the reaction mixture was heated at 65°C for 24 hours in a thermostated oil bath. 78.4% of VPA was converted into polymer at the end of the reaction as determined by 31P NMR."

My question is: Is something like this done without stirring for any specific reason, or is it just common knowledge to stir the reaction?

[pgk]

It is a common knowledge to stir the reaction, in order to achieve homogeneity and supplementary activation energy and avoid exothermic side effects and generally respecting the ”good laboratory practice”. Furthermore, in polymerization procedures, adequate stirring avoids any topical polymer agglomeration and leads to a better molecular weight distribution.

[siddy29]

I once did a polymerization reaction which was pretty fast and required manual stirring. It can get clumpy really easily so stirring is a must.

[pgk]

As an additional argument, please, try to imagine what could happen, if stirring was stopped or interrupted in a 5 tons reactor, during an industrial polymerization procedure.

[Arkcon]

As an additional argument, please, try to imagine what could happen, if stirring was stopped or interrupted in a 5 tons reactor, during an industrial polymerization procedure.

Then I move the post to the the Chemical Engineering sub-forum.