Method for setting conditions for use of polymerization catalyst, polymerization condition setting method, and method for manufacturing optical material

A method for setting conditions for use of a polymerization catalyst, comprising:

• providing at least one of a composition 1 or a composition 2, wherein the composition 1 includes a polymerization-reactive compound and a predetermined amount of a polymerization catalyst, wherein the composition 2 is different from the composition 1 only in an amount of the polymerization catalyst;
• a physical property acquiring step of, when the composition 1 including a polymerization-reactive compound and a predetermined amount of a polymerization catalyst is heated and maintained at a plurality of temperatures, acquiring a physical property value 1a derived from functional groups of the polymerization-reactive compound before heating and a physical property value 1b derived from remaining functional groups after maintaining a temperature for a predetermined time, and, when the composition 2, which is different from the composition 1 only in an amount of the polymerization catalyst, is heated and maintained at the plurality of temperatures, acquiring a physical property value 2a derived from functional groups of the polymerization-reactive compound before heating and a physical property value 2b derived from remaining functional groups after maintaining a temperature for a predetermined time;
• a remaining functional group ratio calculating step of calculating a remaining functional group ratio 1 at the plurality of temperatures from the physical property value 1a and physical property value 1b, and calculating a remaining functional group ratio 2 at the plurality of temperatures from the physical property value 2a and physical property value 2b;
• a reaction rate constant calculating step of calculating a reaction rate constant 1 at the plurality of temperatures based on a reaction rate equation from the remaining functional group ratio 1, and calculating a reaction rate constant 2 at the plurality of temperatures based on the reaction rate equation from the remaining functional group ratio 2;
• a fitting step of calculating an activation energy Ea1 and a frequency factor A1 from the reaction rate constant 1 at the plurality of temperatures using an Arrhenius plot, and calculating an activation energy Ea2 and a frequency factor A2 from the reaction rate constant 2 at the plurality of temperatures using an Arrhenius plot;
• a polymerization catalyst selecting step of determining whether the polymerization catalyst satisfies following Condition 1 based on the activation energies Ea1 and Ea2 or not,
• Average value of −Ea1/R and −Ea2/R is −7100 or more and −2900 or less [Condition 1]
• (R:
• gas constant (8.314 J/mol/K));
• an approximation equation setting step of, when the polymerization catalyst is determined to satisfy Condition 1 in the polymerization catalyst selecting step, setting an approximation equation a from two amounts of the polymerization catalyst and the frequency factor A1 and the frequency factor A2 in the two catalyst amounts,
• ln A=ax+b Approximation equation a:
• A:
• Frequency factor
• a:
• Constant determined by the polymerization catalyst
• b:
• Constant determined from two catalyst amounts and frequency factor A1 and frequency factor A2
• x:
• Added amount of polymerization catalyst to be calculated (ppm);
• and
• a catalyst addition range setting step of setting an addition range with respect to the polymerization-reactive compound with a value obtained by multiplying a constant b in the approximation equation a by 1.003 or 1.2 set as the ln A, and each calculated polymerization catalyst added amount x set as a lower limit value and an upper limit value.