Modeling branched polyethylene: copolymers possessing precisely placed ethyl branches.

A structural investigation of precise ethylene/1-butene (EB) copolymers has been completed using step polymerization chemistry. The synthetic methodology needed to generate four model copolymers is described; their primary and higher level structure is characterized. The copolymers possess an ethyl branch on every 9th, 15th, and 21st carbon along the backbone of linear polyethylene.