Photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as a mediator

The photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) was attained using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as the mediator and (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) (r-AMDV) as the initiator. The bulk polymerization of DMAEMA produced a polymer with a comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution below 1.6. The first-order time conversion plots showed a linear increase. The molecular weight of the resulting polymer also increased with an increase in the monomer conversion. The molecular weights of the resulting polymers were in good agreement with the theoretical molecular weights. A linear correlation was also obtained for the plots of the molecular weight vs. the reciprocal of the initial concentration of r-AMDV. The GPC analysis demonstrated the living nature of the polymerization based on the fact that the curves were shifted to the higher molecular weight side without deactivation as the conversion increased.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in solution

The photoradical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was performed in an acetonitrile solution at room temperature using (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator, 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as the mediator, and (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate as the photo-acid generator. This solution polymerization showed a non-steady-state during the very early stage followed by a steady-state. The polymerization produced oligomers with several thousand molecular weights at a very low conversion under the non-steady-state. It was confirmed that the polymerization proceeded in accordance with a living mechanism under the steady-state based on the linear correlations for both the first-order time-conversion plots and the conversion–molecular weight plots. The molecular weight distributions of the polymers obtained in the steady-state were approximately 1.8. The block copolymerization with isopropyl methacrylate ( ⁱ PMA) demonstrated that the growing polymer chain ends of the MMA prepolymer were stabilized even at a high conversion and efficiently initiated the ⁱ PMA polymerization.     

Photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate in the presence of a photo-acid generator using a nitroxide mediator

The photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate was performed using a (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) initiator and a 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) mediator in the presence of a (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate photo-acid generator. The bulk polymerization was carried out at 25 °C by irradiation with a high-pressure mercury lamp. Whereas the polymerization in the absence of MTEMPO produced a broad molecular weight distribution, the MTEMPO-mediated polymerization provided a polymer with a comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution around 1.4 without elimination of the tert-butyl groups. The living nature of the polymerization was confirmed on the basis of the linear correlations for the first-order time–conversion plots and conversion–molecular weight plots in the range below 50% conversion. The block copolymerization with methyl methacrylate also supported the livingness of the polymerization based on no deactivation of the prepolymer.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of ethyl acrylate

The nitroxide-mediated photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of ethyl acrylate was attained using (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator, 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as the mediator, and (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate as the photo-acid generator. The photopolymerization was performed in acetonitrile at room temperature by irradiation with a high-pressure mercury lamp. The molecular weight distribution of the resulting polymer decreased as the monomer concentration decreased. It was confirmed that the polymerization was controlled on the basis of the linear correlations for the first-order time-conversion plots and the plots of the molecular weight vs. the reciprocal of the initial concentration of the initiator, although the conversion–molecular weight plots did not show a completely linear correlation. The block copolymerization with methyl methacrylate accompanied by no deactivation of the growing polymer chain end supported the livingness of the polymerization.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-controlled/living radical dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate

The nitroxide-mediated photo dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was performed by irradiation at room temperature using (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator, 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator, (4-tert-butylphenyl)-diphenylsulfonium triflate as the photo-acid generator, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the surfactant in a mixed solvent of methanol/water = 3/1 (v/v). The MTEMPO-mediated photo dispersion polymerization produced spherical particles of PMMA, while the uncontrolled photo dispersion polymerization without MTEMPO provided nonspherical particles. The size distribution of the spherical particles decreased as the PVP concentration increased. The spherical particles showed a comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution of ca. 1.6. The livingness of the polymerization was confirmed on the basis of the linear correlations of the first-order time–conversion plots and conversion–molecular weight plots. The simultaneous control of the size distribution and molecular weight was possible as long as the light penetrates into the particles.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate using (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenyl-sulfonium triflate as a photo-acid generator

The photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was performed at room temperature using (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) (r-AMDV) as the initiator, 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator, and (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate ( ^t BuS) as the photo-acid generator. The livingness of the polymerization was confirmed on the basis of linear increases in the ln([MMA]₀/[MMA]_t) vs. time and in the molecular weight vs. the conversion. The molecular weight distributions of the resulting polymers were around 1.45. The polymerization rate was dependent both on the ^t BuS/MTEMPO and MTEMPO/r-AMDV molar ratios. Furthermore, it was found that the polymerization had a photo-latency because the polymerization was retarded by the interruption of the irradiation; however, it was accelerated again by further irradiation without deactivation of the growing polymer chain ends.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of vinyl acetate

The photoradical polymerization of vinyl acetate was performed using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator in the presence of bis(alkylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate (BAI). The MTEMPO/BAI system using 2,2’-azobis(isobutyronitrile) or 2,2’-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator did not succeed in controlling the molecular weight and produced polymers that showed a bimodal gel permeation chromatography with the broad molecular weight distribution. On the other hand, the polymerization using 1-(cyano-1-methylethoxy)-4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine and BAI proceeded by the living mechanism based on linear increases in the first order time–conversion and conversion–molecular weight plots. The molecular weight distribution also increased with the increasing conversion due to cloudiness of the solution as the polymerization proceeded. It was found that the polymerization had a photolatency because the propagation stopped by interruption of the irradiation and was restarted by further irradiation.     

Effect of azoinitiators on nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

In order to clarify the initiator factor dominating the molecular weight distribution of the resulting polymer, the nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate was performed using eight different kinds of azoinitiators: i.e., 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile, 2,2′-azobis(2-methylbutyronitrile), 2,2′-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), 1,1′-azobis(cyclohexane-1-carbonitrile), racemic-(2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), meso-(2RS,2′SR)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), dimethyl 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionate), and 2,2′-azobis(N-butyl-2-methylpropionamide). The bulk polymerization was carried out at room temperature for 3 h using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator in the presence of bis(alkylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate as the photo-acid generator. All the initiators provided a molecular weight distribution below 1.7 for the MTEMPO/initiator ratio of 2, although at the ratio of unity, about half of the initiators produced the molecular weight distribution around 2.3–3.4. The UV analysis revealed that the initiators having a higher ε value tended to more strictly control the molecular weight and provide a higher initiator efficiency. The half-lives of the initiators had little effect on the molecular weight control and initiator efficiency.     

Nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in the presence of (η6-benzene)(η5-cyclopentadienyl)FeII hexafluorophosphate

The photoradical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was performed at room temperature using (2RS,2’RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator and 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator in the presence of (η⁶-benzene)(η⁵-cyclopentadienyl)Fe^II hexafluorophosphate (BzCpFe^II). The bulk polymerization provided narrower molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn = 1.4 − 1.5) than the solution polymerization in acetonitrile, although BzCpFe^II was insoluble in MMA. The polymerization rate was retarded by an increase in the amount of BzCpFe^II. BzCpFe^II, which had no ability to control the molecular weight by itself, could control it through the interaction with MTEMPO. The interaction of BzCpFe^II and MTEMPO was attributed to the electron transfer involving the MTEMPO–aminoxy anion redox system and the iron redox system. The polymerization was confirmed to occur in accordance with a living mechanism because linear correlations were obtained for both the plots of the first order time–conversion and the conversion–molecular weight.     

Photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate using alkoxyamine as an initiator

The photoradical polymerization of vinyl acetate was performed using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) as the mediator in the presence of bis(alkylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate (BAI). The MTEMPO/BAI system using 2,2’-azobis(isobutyronitrile) or 2,2’-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator did not succeed in controlling the molecular weight and produced polymers that showed a bimodal gel permeation chromatography with the broad molecular weight distribution. On the other hand, the polymerization using 1-(cyano-1-methylethoxy)-4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine and BAI proceeded by the living mechanism based on linear increases in the first order time–conversion and conversion–molecular weight plots. The molecular weight distribution also increased with the increasing conversion due to cloudiness of the solution as the polymerization proceeded. It was found that the polymerization had a photolatency because the propagation stopped by interruption of the irradiation and was restarted by further irradiation.     

Photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate by a nitroxide mediator

The novel photo-living radical polymerization was determined using 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) and bis(alkylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate (BAI) as the photo-acid generator. The polymerization of methyl methacrylate was performed using azobisisobutylonitrile as an initiator in the presence of MTEMPO and BAI at room temperature by irradiation with a high-pressure mercury lamp to produce poly(methyl methacrylate) with a comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution (M _w/M _n?=?1.3–1.7). The polymerization proceeded by a living mechanism based on the fact that the first-order time-conversion plots linearly increased. A linear increase in the plots of the molecular weight versus the conversion also supported the living nature of the polymerization. It was found that MTEMPO had an interaction with the propagation chain end to control the molecular weight, while BAI weakened the interaction of MTEMPO with the propagation chain end to reduce the molecular weight distribution and polymerization time.     

Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate on polystyrene backbone through nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization

Polystyrene-graft-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PSt-graft-PMMA) was prepared by the nitroxide-mediated photo-living radical polymerization using poly(4-vinylbenzyl-4-oxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-ran-styrene) (P(VTEMPO-r-St)) as the macromediator. The bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate was performed at room temperature by irradiation using a high-pressure mercury lamp with P(VTEMPO-r-St) as the mediator having the molar ratio of VTEMPO/St unit = 0.40/0.60 and the molecular weight of Mn = 21,700 and the (2RS,2′RS)-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) as the initiator in the presence of the (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate as the photo-acid generator. The polymerization proceeded via a controlled polymerization mechanism because both the first-order time-conversion plots and the conversion-molecular weight plots showed linear increases. It was found that all the VTEMPO units supported the controlled PMMA chains by ¹H NMR analysis because the molar ratio of the VTEMPO at the terminal chain end to the 1-cyano-3-methoxy-1,3-dimethylbutyl group at the initiation chain end of the PMMA was unity.     

Ethylene polymerization and ethylene/hexene copolymerization with vanadium(III) catalysts bearing heteroatom‐containing salicylaldiminato ligands

A series of novel vanadium(III) complexes bearing heteroatom‐containing group‐substituted salicylaldiminato ligands [RN?CH(ArO)]VCl₂(THF)₂ (Ar = C₆H₄, R = C₃H₂NS, 2a ; C₇H₄NS, 2c ; C₇H₅N₂, 2d ; Ar = C₆H₂tBu₂ (2,4), R = C₃H₂NS, 2b ) have been synthesized and characterized. Structure of complex 2c was further confirmed by X‐ray crystallographic analysis. The complexes were investigated as the catalysts for ethylene polymerization in the presence of Et₂AlCl. Complexes 2a–d exhibited high catalytic activities (up to 22.8 kg polyethylene/mmol_V h bar), and affording polymer with unimodal molecular weight distributions at 25–70 °C in the first 5‐min polymerization, whereas produced bimodal molecular weight distribution polymers at 70 °C when polymerization time prolonged to 30 min. The catalyst structure plays an important role in controlling the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the resultant polymers produced in 30 min polymerization. In addition, ethylene/hexene copolymerizations with catalysts 2a–d were also explored in the presence of Et₂AlCl, which leads to the high molecular weight and unimodal distributions copolymers with high comonomer incorporation. Catalytic activity, comonomer incorporation, and polymer molecular weight can be controlled over a wide range by the variation of catalyst structure and the reaction parameters, such as comonomer feed concentration, polymerization time, and polymerization reaction temperature. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3573–3582, 2009     

A novel azo‐containing dithiocarbamate used for living radical polymerization of methyl acrylate and styrene

A novel azo‐containing dithiocarbamate, 1‐phenylethyl N,N‐(4‐phenylazo) phenylphenyldithiocarbamate (PPADC), was successfully synthesized and used to mediate the polymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) and styrene (St). In the presence of PPADC, the reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was well controlled in the case of MA, however, the slightly ill‐controlled in the case of St. Interestingly, the polymerization of St could be well‐controlled when using PPADC as the initiator in the presence of CuBr/PMDETA via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. In the cases of RAFT polymerization of MA and ATRP of St, the kinetic plots were both of first‐order, and the molecular weight of the polymer increased linearly with the monomer conversion while keeping the relatively narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n). The molecular weight of the polymer measured by gel permeation chromatographer (GPC) was also close to the theoretical value (M_n(th)). The obtained polymer was characterized by ¹H‐NMR analysis, ultraviolet absorption, FTIR spectra analysis and chain‐extension experiments. Furthermore, the photoresponsive behaviors of azobenzene‐terminated poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) and polystyrene (PS) were similar to PPADC. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5626–5637, 2008     

Photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl in the presence of a photo-acid generator

The novel photo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was determined using 2,2’-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) (AMDV) and 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MTEMPO) in the presence of bis(alkylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate (BAI). The polymerization provided a comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution in the range of 1.4–1.7. The resulting PMMA contained no BAI fragments in its structure and had the 1-cyano-1,3-dimethyl-3-methoxybutyl radical and MTEMPO at the 1:1 molar ratio. The experimental molecular weight was in close agreement with the theoretical one when the initiator efficiency was taken into consideration. The plots of ln([MMA]₀/[MMA]) vs. time and the molecular weight of PMMA vs. the conversion and vs. the reciprocal of the initial concentration of AMDV showed linear correlations, indicating that the polymerization proceeded in accordance with a living mechanism. It was found that the polymerization had a photo-switching ability, because the polymerization was interrupted by turning off the irradiation, and then restarted by the irradiation again.     

Oxidation polymerization of a charge‐transfer complex of 2,6‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐1,4‐dithiafulvene with 7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane

A π‐conjugated poly(α‐dithienylen‐dithiafulvene) ( 2 ) was obtained by the oxidation polymerization of 2,6‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐1,4‐dithiafulvene ( 1 ) as a dithiafulvene monomer derived from 4‐(2‐thienyl)‐1,2,3‐thiadiazole. When a solution of 1 in CHCl₃ was added to a stirred solution of FeCl₃ in CHCl₃, only the low‐molecular‐weight product 2 was obtained. The mixture was stirred for 15 h with an N₂ flow. The polymerization at higher temperatures resulted in polymers with large insoluble fractions. A higher molecular weight polymer was obtained by the oxidation polymerization of a charge‐transfer complex of 1 with 7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (compound 3 ). In contrast to 2 , polymer 4 was readily soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, and acetone and partially soluble in tetrahydrofuran and methanol and had a larger molecular weight (peak top molecular weight = 37,000). The conductivity of polymer 4 was 3 orders of magnitude larger than that of polymer 2 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 6592–6598, 2005     

Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Styrene Using Multifunctional Iniferter Reagents as Initiators

Summary: Two multifunctional iniferters, 1,4-bis-(α-N,N-diethyldithiocarbamyl-isobutyryloxy)-benzene (BDCIB) and 1,3,5-tris-(α-N,N-diethyldithiocarbamyl-isobutyryloxy)-benzene (TDCIB), were successfully synthesized and used as initiators to initiate the polymerization of styrene in the presence of a CuBr/PMDETA complex. The polymerization results demonstrated that the kinetic plots in all cases were first-order to the monomer, the molecular weight of the polymers increased linearly with the monomer conversion; meanwhile, the molecular weight distribution of the polymer was kept to a very low value (M_w/M_n ≤ 1.35). Furthermore, the measured molecular weights were very close to the calculated values, which indicated the high efficiency of the initiator for the polymerization of styrene. The effect of catalyst concentration and initiator concentration was not obvious and the influence of polymerization temperature was apparent, and the polymerization rate increased with the polymerization temperature. The results of chain-extension and ¹H NMR analysis proved that the polymer obtained was capped with diethylthiocarbamoylthiy (DC) group.     

Dual bimodal polyethylene prepared by intercalated silicate with nickel diimine complex

The ethylene polymerization was catalyzed by the intercalated montmorillonite with the nickel complex, [ArN?C(Me)? C(Me)?NAr]NiBr₂ (Ar = 2,6‐C₆H₃ (i‐Pr)₂). Polymer with low melting point and high molecular weight was produced at the early stage of polymerization followed by formation of polymer with high melting point and low molecular weight. It is proposed that the gallery of silicate lowers the propagation rate of polymerization and frequency of “chain walking” process of nickel complex anchored inside the gallery, which produces polymer with low molecular weight and low branching, whereas the nickel complex immobilized on the surface of silicate generates polymer with high molecular weight and high branching. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5506–5511, 2005     

Synthesis and characterization of a series of 2‐aminopyridine nickel(II) complexes and their catalytic properties toward ethylene polymerization

A series of 2‐aminopyridine Ni(II) complexes bearing different substituent groups {(2‐PyCH₂NAr)NiBr, Ar = 2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl ( 3a) , 2,6‐dichlorophenyl ( 3b ), 2,6‐dimethylphenyl ( 3c) , 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl ( 3d ), 2,6‐difluorophenyl ( 3e ); (2‐PyCH₂NHAr)₂NiBr₂, Ar = 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl ( 4a )} have been synthesized and investigated as precatalysts for ethylene polymerization in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO). High molecular weight branched polymers as well as short‐chain oligomers were simultaneously produced with these complexes. Enhancing the steric bulk of the ortho‐aryl‐substituents of the catalyst resulted in higher ratio of solid polymer to oligomer and higher molecular weight of the polymer. With ortho‐haloid‐substitution, the catalysts afforded a product with low polymer/oligomer ratio ( 3b ) and even only oligomers ( 3e ) in which C₁₄H₂₈ had the maximum content. Compared with complex 3d containing ionic ligand, complex 4a containing neutral ligand exhibited obviously low catalytic activity for ethylene polymerization. The molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, and microstructure of the resulted polymer were characterized by gel permeation chromatography and ¹³C NMR spectrogram. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1618–1628, 2008     

Preparation of monodisperse hydrophilic polyamide by anionic polymerization of bicyclic oxalactam

The preparation of a monodisperse hydrophilic polyamide was achieved in the anionic polymerization of a bicyclic oxalactam, 8-oxa-6-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-7-one (abbreviated BOL) with the use of N-benzoyl BOL and potassium pyrrolidonate (2 and 0.5 mol % to BOL, respectively) in dimethyl sulfoxide at 25°C. The number-average molecular weight of the polyamide increased in direct proportion to the monomer conversion, and was consistent with the value calculated from the amounts of the consumed monomer and activator. The molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the polyamide obtained until the middle stage of polymerization (polymerization time, < 10 min; monomer conversion, < 60%) was found to be narrow (M_w/M_n = 1.1). The MWD was gradually broadened in the later stage of the polymerization, which may result from the redistribution of molecular weight of the resulting polyamide not only by the polymerization–depolymerization equilibrium, but also by transamidation between polymer chains.