Catalytic aerobic radical polymerization in typical redox-non-innocent solvents as potential low-efficiency initiators

Abstract

Certain complexes of some transition metal cations in the high oxidation state could oxidize some organic substrates with labile C-H moieties, leading to the corresponding cations in the lower" oxidation state and some carbon-centered radicals. The former would form oxidative complexes with molecular dioxygen to continuously oxidize organic substrates, while the latter would initiate polymerization of vinylic monomers. Such catalytic oxidation is adopted to initiate radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene (St) with cyclohexanone (CyHO) and benzylic hydrocarbons as both the solvent and the substrate. Although, a large array of complexes could trigger the polymerization, Cu^II/2,2′-bipyridine complexes display a maximum turnover frequency above 200?h^–1 during the catalytic aerobic radical polymerization of MMA in CyHO at 70–80?°C, but only less than 0.4% of CyHO is involved in chain formatting. Cu^II/ligand-catalyzed aerobic radical polymerization of St in CyHO exhibit comparable behaviors. Only Co^II complexes could catalyze the aerobic radical polymerization of MMA in para-xylene and cumene at 90?°C, but only 0.1% of PX and 0.3% of cumene are involved in chain forming.