Anionic polymerization of styrene in ionic liquids

For the first time anionic polymerization of styrene has been successfully carried out at ambient temperatures in an ionic liquid, providing milder reaction conditions than classical methods. The addition of the zwitterion provides better dissociation of the metal cation based initiators and the IL based reaction allows the use of a much milder Lewis base initiator than is usually required. The present method also eliminates the traditional solvents and rigorous reaction conditions.