Semibatch Atom Transfer Radical Copolymerization of Styrene and Butyl Acrylate

Summary: Batch and semibatch butyl acrylate (BA) polymerizations are carried out using a heterogeneous atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) catalyst system, with excellent molecular weight (MW) control maintained at temperatures below 80 °C. A kinetic model, using rate coefficients from literature and catalyst solubility data from this study, provides a good representation of the experimental results, after modifying the model to account for the decrease in rate caused by intramolecular chain transfer. It is also demonstrated experimentally that well-defined random, gradient, and block styrene/BA copolymers can be synthesized by manipulating monomer feed profiles in the ATRP semibatch process.     

Atom‐Transfer Radical Batch and Semibatch Polymerization of Styrene

Batch and semibatch styrene polymerizations are carried out using a heterogeneous ATRP catalyst system that provides excellent molecular‐weight control. The observed initiator efficiency is lower for semibatch operation due to the high initiator concentrations required to make a low‐MW polymer. Experiments verified that the insoluble metal complex does not participate in the polymerization and that Cu(I) solubility is an order of magnitude higher than that of Cu(II). A mechanistic model, using kinetic coefficients from literature and the solubility data from this study, provides a good representation of the experimental results.

     

Heterogeneity Features of Bulk Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate in an Ampoule Reactor

Summary: This work demonstrated the severity of heterogeneity issues with ampoule reactors in bulk atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. The kinetic data of Cu^II concentration, monomer conversion, and polymer molecular weight varied from location to location along the ampoule. However, the polymer molecular weight versus conversion data from different locations fell into a single theoretical line. All locations except for the bottom part of the ampoule produced polymers having narrow molecular weight distribution.

Conversion versus time at different locations for the ATRP of MMA at 70 °C.     

Mathematical Modeling of Atom‐Transfer Radical Copolymerization

A comprehensive mathematical model for atom transfer radical copolymerization in a batch reactor is presented using the concept of pseudo‐kinetic rate constants and the method of moments. The model describes molecular weight, monomer conversion, polydispersity index, and copolymer composition as a function of polymerization time. Model predictions were compared with experimental data for styrene and butyl acrylate copolymerization and excellent agreement was obtained. We have also tested the model with styrene‐acrylonitrile copolymerization data obtained in our laboratory. Finally, we used the model to study the effect of comonomer reactivity ratio, feed composition, activation and deactivation rate constants on the copolymer composition.

     

Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate High Efficiently Initiated by Azo-containing Iniferter

Two novel azo-containing iniferters, (4,4′-(diazene-1,2-diyl) bis(4,1-phenylene) bis(2-(diethylca-rbamothioylthio)-2-methylpropanoate (BDCMP) and 4-((4-bromophenyl)diazenyl)phenyl-2-(diethylcarbamothioylthio)-2-methylpropanoate (PDCMP) were synthesized and used successfully as the initiators for atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA). The kinetic plots were first order and the molecular weights of the polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions increased with the monomer conversions. Furthermore, the results showed that the apparent initiation efficiencies (f was close to 0.90 defined as M _n(th)/M _n(GPC)) of BDCMP and PDCMP were both higher than that (f was lower than 0.5) of 2-N,N-(diethylamino)dithiocarboyl-isobutyrate (EDCIB), which was reported previously by us (14 Zhang, W., Zhu, X. L., Cheng, Z. P. and Zhu, J. 2007. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 106: 230–7. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The obtained mono- and bi-functional PMMAs containing azo and N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate (DC) groups were confirmed by ¹H-NMR and ultraviolet absorption spectra, respectively. The block copolymer, poly (methyl methacrylate)-b-polystyrene (PMMA-b-PS), was also successfully prepared via the ATRP chain-extension experiment using the obtained PMMA as a macroinitiator.     

Monomode Microwave‐Assisted Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Summary: The first monomode microwave‐assisted atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is reported. The ATRP of methyl methacrylate was successfully performed with microwave heating, which was well controlled and provided almost the same results as experiments with conventional heating, demonstrating the absence of any “microwave effect” in ATRP (in contrast to several literature reports). Furthermore, we found that the main advantage of the microwave‐assisted reactions over conventional reactions, i.e., a significant increase of reaction rates, only had its limited application in ATRP, even in very slow ATRP systems with high targeted molecular weights.

Comparison of the kinetic plots of the ATRP of MMA ([MMA]₀/[EBIB]₀/[CuCl]₀/[NHPMI]₀ = 200:1:1:3, MMA/DMF = 1:1 v/v) carried out at 90 °C in DMF with microwave (▴) and conventional heating (•), respectively.     

Controlled Radical Polymerization of Furfuryl Methacrylate

Atom transfer radical polymerization provides a new method of controlled radical polymerization. The most important advantage of ATRP is that it is tolerant to the different functional groups present in the initiator as well as in the monomer. Furfuryl Methacrylate (FMA) is a specialty monomer, which has applications in coatings, adhesives and in biomedicals. Conventional radical polymerization of FMA leads to excessive gel formation, which limits its applications. In this investigation homo and co-polymerization of FMA has been carried out via ATRP. ATRP of FMA was carried out using CuBr as catalyst and 1, 1, 4, 7, 10, 10 hexamethyltriethylenetetramine (HMTETA) as ligand. There was no gel formation during the polymerization. ATRP of FMA was well controlled with a linear increase of molecular weight (Mn) with monomer conversion. The polymers were characterized by using ¹HNMR, FT-IR and GPC analysis. Interestingly, it was observed that the furfuryl ring was not affected during polymerization.     

Atom‐Transfer Radical Polymerization of 2‐(N,N‐Dimethylamino)ethyl Acrylate

ATRP of 2‐(N,N‐dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate (DMAEA) was investigated using CuBr or CuCl with different multidentate ligands. The catalyst was found active for DMAEA polymerization when ligated with tris[2‐(N,N‐dimethylamino)ethyl]amine. Good control over molecular weight was achieved, but quaternization of the terminal monomeric/polymeric tertiary amine by the C Br group of polyDMAEA caused chain termination. Using a chloride‐based system helped to suppress chain termination. Amphiphilic poly(methyl acrylate)‐block‐polyDMAEA was synthesized using polyMA as a macroinitiator.

Molecular weights and polydispersities of polyDMAEA versus DMAEA conversion for different catalyst systems.     

Bulk Free‐Radical Copolymerization of n‐Butyl Acrylate and n‐Butyl Methacrylate: Reactivity Ratio Estimation

The reactivity ratios for the bulk free‐radical copolymerization of n‐butyl acrylate (BA)/n‐butyl methacrylate (BMA) are estimated at 80 °C. By performing a series of low conversion runs including replicate runs, the reactivity ratios are estimated as r_BA = 0.460 and r_BMA = 2.008. Runs to high conversions are then conducted at three different feed compositions (f_BMA = 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8) to validate the reactivity ratios. The composition data from the high conversion experiments show good agreement with the estimated reactivity ratios in the integrated form of the Mayo–Lewis model. The molecular weight, gel content, and glass transition temperature of BA/BMA copolymers are also determined.

     

室温下甲基丙烯酸甲酯原子转移自由基乳液聚合反应研究

以卤化亚铜（CuX）/1,10-邻二氮菲（phen）配合物为催化剂、2-溴代异丁酸 乙酯（EBiB）为引发剂、十二烷基磺酸钠（SLS）为乳化剂,进行了甲基丙烯酸甲 酯（MMA）的原子转移自由基乳液聚合（ATRP）反应。结果表明,与较高温度（70 - 90 ℃）下的聚合反应相比,室温（25 ℃）时聚合反应有更好的可控性,通过 外加钝化剂的复合催化引发体系CuBr/CuBr_2/phen/EBiB或利用CuCl/phen/EBiB催 化引发体系的“卤素交换反应”,可进一步改善聚合反应的可控性。紫外发光谱测 定结果表明,CuBr/phen配合物在MMA相中的分配倾向随着温度的降低而增大,使得 室温下MMA的乳液ATRP保持了较好的可控性和较快的反应速度。     

甲基丙烯酸丁酯和苯乙烯的原子转移自由基共聚

研究了甲基丙烯酸丁酯和苯乙烯两种不同极性单体的原子转移自由基嵌段共聚和无规共聚，得到了实测分子量与理论分子量相近、分子量分布较窄的嵌段共聚物和无规共聚物。聚合过程中分子量和单体转化率成比例增加，多分散性指数变化不大。用＾１Ｈ ＮＭＲ法测定共聚组成，Ｋdisplay status     

Diffusion‐Regulated Phase‐Transfer Catalysis for Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate in an Aqueous/Organic Biphasic System

A concept based on diffusion‐regulated phase‐transfer catalysis (DRPTC) in an aqueous‐organic biphasic system with copper‐mediated initiators for continuous activator regeneration is successfully developed for atom transfer radical polymerization (ICAR ATRP) (termed DRPTC‐based ICAR ATRP here), using methyl methacrylate (MMA) as a model monomer, ethyl α‐bromophenylacetate (EBrPA) as an initiator, and tris(2‐pyridylmethyl)amine (TPMA) as a ligand. In this system, the monomer and initiating species in toluene (organic phase) and the catalyst complexes in water (aqueous phase) are simply mixed under stirring at room temperature. The trace catalyst complexes transfer into the organic phase via diffusion to trigger ICAR ATRP of MMA with ppm level catalyst content once the system is heated to the polymerization temperature (75 °C). It is found that well‐defined PMMA with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions can be obtained easily. Furthermore, the polymerization can be conducted in the presence of limited amounts of air without using tedious degassed procedures. After cooling to room temperature, the upper organic phase is decanted and the lower aqueous phase is reused for another 10 recycling turnovers with ultra low loss of catalyst and ligand loading. At the same time, all the recycled catalyst complexes retain nearly perfect catalytic activity and controllability, indicating a facile and economical strategy for catalyst removal and recycling.

     

Metal‐Free Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with ppm Level of Organic Photocatalyst

It is well known that the recently developed photoinduced metal‐free atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been considered as a promising methodology to completely eliminate transition metal residue in polymers. However, a serious problem needs to be improved, namely, large amount of organic photocatalysts should be used to keep the controllability over molecular weights and molecular weight distributions. In this work, a novel photocatalyst 1,2,3,5‐tetrakis(carbazol‐9‐yl)‐4,6‐dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) with strong excited state reduction potential is successfully used to mediate a metal‐free ATRP of methyl methacrylate just with parts per million (ppm) level usage under irradiation of blue light emitting diode at room temperature, using ethyl α‐bromophenyl‐acetate as a typical initiator with high initiator efficiency. The polymerization kinetic study, multiple controlled “on–off” light switching cycle regulation, and chain extension experiment confirm the “living”/controlled features of this promising photoinduced metal‐free ATRP system with good molecular weight control in the presence of ppm level photocatalyst 4CzIPN.

     

Facile Soap‐Free Miniemulsion Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate via Reverse Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

A facile soap‐free miniemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was successfully carried out via a reverse ATRP technique, using a water‐soluble potassium persulfate (KPS) or 2,2′‐azobis(2‐methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (V‐50) both as the initiator and the stabilizer, and using an oil‐soluble N,N‐n‐butyldithiocarbamate copper (Cu(S₂CN(C₄H₉)₂)₂) as the catalyst without adding any additional ligand. Polymerization results demonstrated the “living”/controlled characteristics of ATRP and the resultant latexes showed good colloidal stability with average particle size around 300–700 nm in diameter. The monomer droplet nucleation mechanism was proposed. NMR spectroscopy and chain‐extension experiments under UV light irradiation confirmed the attachment and livingness of UV light sensitive  S C(S) N(C₄H₉)₂ group in the chain end.     

Application of a Parallel Synthetic Approach in Atom‐Transfer Radical Polymerization: Set‐Up and Feasibility Demonstration

A parallel synthetic approach toward homogeneous atom‐transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate has been successfully applied by utilizing an automated synthesizer. Experimental set‐up, automated parallel synthesis and purification of the polymers via a solid‐phase extraction set‐up, as well as online and offline measurements of the molecular weights and monomer conversion are described in detail. In addition, a comparison with conventional experiments in the laboratory is provided.

Kinetic plots of ln([M]₀/[M]) versus reaction time of the ATRP of MMA in p‐xylene at 90 °C conducted in an automated synthesizer (three parallel reactions, ○, ▵, ⋄) and in a conventional set‐up (▪).     

无水FeCl_3存在下丙烯酸甲酯的单电子转移活性自由基聚合动力学

单电子转移活性自由基聚合(SET-LRP)是一种可以对聚合物进行有效分子设计,合成不同拓扑结构并且能够有效调节其相对分子质量和相对分子质量分布的新型聚合方法,具有潜在的应用前景。以2-溴丙酸甲酯作为引发剂,Cu(0)/三(N,N-二甲基氨基乙基)胺(Me6-TREN)为复合催化体系,通过在二甲基亚砜中添加不同摩尔浓度的无水FeCl_3来研究其对丙烯酸甲酯的SET-LRP聚合动力学的影响。结果表明,随着三价铁离子量的增加,其链增长速率常数下降并且出现诱导期延长现象,说明三价铁离子参与了SET-LRP的聚合动力学过程,它和在同样实验条件下二价铜所起的作用截然不同,这可能是由于三价铁离子的氧化导致反应体系中一价铜的浓度降低引起的。此项工作从另外一个角度解释了零价铜催化下SET-LRP聚合诱导期产生的原因。     

Controlled Radical Polymerization of 2,3‐Epithiopropyl Methacrylate

We report first results on the controlled radical polymerization of 2,3‐epithiopropyl methacrylate (ETMA) also known as thiiran‐2‐ylmethyl methacrylate. Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) of ETMA was carried out in bulk and in solution, using AIBN as initiator and the chain transfer agents: cyanopropyl dithiobenzoate (CPDB) and cumyl dithiobenzoate (CDB). A linear increase of the number‐average molecular weight and decrease of the polydispersity with monomer conversion were observed using CPDB as transfer agent, indicating a controlled process. Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of ETMA was performed under different reaction conditions using copper bromide complexed by tertiary amine ligands and ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) or 2‐bromopropionitrile (BPN) as initiator. All experiments lead to a crosslinked polymer. Preliminary studies in the absence of initiator showed that the CuBr/ligand complex alone initiates the ring‐opening polymerization of thiirane leading to a poly(propylene sulfide) with pendant methacrylate groups.

     

Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of iso‐Butyl Methacrylate in Microemulsion with Cationic and Non‐Ionic Emulsifiers

Direct atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of iso‐butyl methacrylate in microemulsion has been performed successfully for the first time. ATRP was performed at 40 °C with different emulsifier systems: i) the cationic emulsifier n‐tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB); and ii) mixed emulsifier systems based on TTAB and the non‐ionic emulsifiers Emulgen 911 or Emulgen 931. All polymerizations proceeded in a controlled/living fashion, and the microemulsions were transparent with particle diameters less than 15 nm. The emulsifier system TTAB/Emulgen 911 exhibited better control than TTAB only. This is proposed to be caused by complex formation between Emulgen 911 in the organic phase and CuBr₂ (the deactivator), thus reducing the extent of exit of CuBr₂ to the aqueous phase. The more hydrophilic Emulgen 931 did not lead to improved control.