Radical–radical coupling of polystyrene chains using AGET ATRC

Activators generated by electron transfer (AGET) was integrated into atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) systems to drastically reduce the amount of copper catalyst required to achieve dimerization of monohalogenated polystyrene (PStX) precursors. PStCl or PStBr, prepared by ATRP, were activated and coupled in ATRC systems with varying equivalents of the reducing agent tin(II) ethyl hexanoate (Sn(EH)₂) with ligand‐bound copper(I) and/or copper(II) present. Effective coupling was only observed in PStBr systems, with total copper content in the reaction mixture able to be reduced into the range of 10–25% of what is typically reported in traditional ATRC reactions of PSt while maintaining coupling yields of >50%. Additional reducing agents, glucose and ascorbic acid, were also studied and were found to be even more effective in some AGET ATRC reactions compared with Sn(EH)₂. Best results were achieved with ascorbic acid as the reducing agent (>80% coupled product) with total copper content 25% of what was used for a traditional ATRC. Using an activators regenerated by electron transfer ATRP–AGET ATRC sequence resulted in an overall reduction of total copper down to 0.1–0.25% for the overall reaction sequence (compared with a traditional ATRP–ATRC sequence). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Selective formation of diblock copolymers using radical trap‐assisted atom transfer radical coupling

Polystyrene (PSt) radicals and poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) radicals, derived from their monobrominated precursors prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), were formed in the presence of the radical trap 2‐methyl‐2‐nitrosopropane (MNP), selectively forming PSt‐PMA diblock copolymers with an alkoxyamine at the junction between the block segments. This radical trap‐assisted, atom transfer radical coupling (RTA‐ATRC) was performed in a single pot at low temperature (35 °C), while analogous traditional ATRC reactions at this temperature, which lacked the radical trap, resulted in no observed coupling and the PStBr and PMABr precursors were simply recovered. Selective formation of the diblock under RTA‐ATRC conditions is consistent with the PStBr and PMABr having substantially different K_ATRP values, with PSt radicals initially being formed and trapped by the MNP and the PMA radicals being trapped by the in situ‐formed nitroxide end‐capped PSt. The midchain alkoxyamine functionality was confirmed by thermolysis of the diblock copolymer, resulting in recovery of the PSt segment and degradation of the PMA block at the relatively high temperatures (125 °C) required for thermal cleavage. A PSt‐PMA diblock formed by chain extenstion ATRP using PStBr as the macroinitiator (thus lacking the alkoxyamine between the PSt‐PMA segements) was inert to thermolysis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3619–3626     

Coupled atom transfer radical coupling and atom transfer radical polymerization approach for controlled grafting from poly(vinylidene fluoride) backbone

A new “grafting from” strategy for grafting of different monomers (methacrylates, acrylates, and acrylamide) on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) backbone is designed using atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). 4‐Hydroxy TEMPO moieties are anchored on PVDF backbone by ATRC followed by attachment of ATRP initiating sites chosen according to the reactivity of different monomers. High graft conversion is achieved and grafting of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) exhibits high degree of polymerization (DPn = 770) with a very low graft density (0.18 per hundred VDF units) which has been increased to 0.44 by regenerating the active catalyst with the addition of Cu(0). A significant impact on thermal and stress–strain property of graft copolymers on the graft density and graft length is noted. Higher tensile strain and toughness are observed for PVDF‐g‐PMMA produced from model initiator but graft copolymer from pure PVDF exhibits higher tensile strength and Young's modulus. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 995–1008     

Iron‐mediated AGET ATRP of methyl methacrylate using metal wire as reducing agent

Methyl methacrylate (MMA) were successfully polymerized by atom transfer radical polymerization with activator generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) using copper or iron wire as the reducing agent at 90°C. Well‐controlled polymerizations were demonstrated using an oxidatively stable iron(III) chloride hexahydrate (FeCl₃·6H₂O) as the catalyst, ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) as the initiator, and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr) or triphenylphosphine as the ligand. The polymerization rate was fast and affected by the amount of catalyst and type of reducing agents. For example, the polymerization rate of bulk AGET ATRP with a molar ratio of [MMA]₀/[EBiB]₀/[FeCl₃·6H₂O]₀/[TBABr]₀ = 500/1/0.5/1 using iron wire (the conversion reaches up to 82.2% after 80 min) as the reducing agent was faster than that using copper wire (the conversion reaches up to 86.1% after 3 h). At the same time, the experimental M_n values of the obtained poly(methyl methacrylate) were consistent with the corresponding theoretical ones, and the M_w/M_n values were narrow (～1.3), showing the typical features of “living”/controlled radical polymerization. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

碱性离子液体催化金属调节的甲基丙烯酸甲酯的电子转移活化原子转移自由基聚合

通过电子转移活化原子转移自由基聚合（AGET ATRP）,以2-溴代异丁酸乙酯（EBiB）为引发剂、维生素C（VC）为还原剂。 以碱性离子液体1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑氢氧化盐([Bmim][OH])分别和FeCl3·6H2O、CuCl2及RuCl3形成的配合物为催化剂催化甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）的本体和溶液聚合。 催化量的[Bmim][OH]即可提高聚合速率,并且得到相对分子质量分布可控的PMMA（Mw/Mn为1.20～1.40）。 研究了[Bmim][OH]的加入量对聚合速率和相对分子质量分布的影响,3种催化体系催化性质通过循环伏安曲线表征。 扩链反应证明了碱性离子液体催化甲基丙烯酸甲酯的聚合为“活性”/可控自由基聚合。 碱性离子液体良好的溶解性使其成为活性自由基聚合的良好催化剂。     

AGET ATRP of acrylonitrile using 1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyltriethylenetetramine as both ligand and reducing agent

Atom transfer radical polymerization using activators generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) initiated by ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate was approached for the first time using 1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyltriethylenetetramine (HMTETA) and 1,1,4,7,7‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as both ligand and reducing agent. AGET ATRP of AN with HMTETA as both ligand and reducing agent was better controlled than with PMDETA as both ligand and reducing agent under the same experimental conditions. With an increase content of HMTETA, the polymerization provided an accelerated reaction rate and a broader polymer molecular weight distribution. The rate of polymerization with DMF as solvent was faster than with acetonitrile, cyclohexanone, toluene, and xylene as solvents. The polymerization apparent activation energy was calculated to be 45.7 kJ mol^?1. The end functionality of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was confirmed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The living feature of PAN was verified by chain extensions of PAN with methyl methacrylate and AN. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 128–133, 2010     

Air‐tolerantly surface‐initiated AGET ATRP mediated by iron catalyst from silica nanoparticles

Well‐defined polymer‐nanoparticle hybrids were prepared by a newly reported method: atom transfer radical polymerization using activators generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) mediated by iron catalyst. The kinetics of the surface‐initiated AGET ATRP of methyl methacrylate from the silica nanoparticles, which was mediated by FeCl₃/triphenylphosphine as a catalyst complex, ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, N,N‐dimethylformamide as the solvent in the presence of a “sacrificial” (free) initiator, was studied. Both the free and grafted polymers were grown in a control manner. The chemical composition of the nanocomposites was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to estimate the content of the grafted organic compound, and transmission electron micrographs was used to observe the core‐shell structure of the hybrid nanoparticles. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2006–2015, 2010     

原子转移自由基细乳液聚合*

本文从正向、反向、同时正向/反向、电子转移活化剂等不同原子转移自由基聚合（ATRP）细乳液引发体系的角度,综述了近年来国内外关于ATRP细乳液聚合的研究进展。在细乳液体系中进行正向ATRP,聚合可控性不理想,反向ATRP相对适合于细乳液体系,其缺点是表面活性剂用量较大。同时正向/反向引发体系的ATRP中催化剂用量大为减少,并且聚合具有良好的可控性;电子转移活化剂（AGET）ATRP是通过电子转移反应来还原过渡金属的氧化态,克服了同时正向/反向ATRP中需要引入自由基引发剂的缺点。     

Incorporation of poly(2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐N‐propanesulfonic acid) segments into block and brush copolymers by ATRP

2‐Acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐N‐propanesulfonic acid (AMPSA) was successfully polymerized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using a copper chloride/2,2′‐bipyridine (bpy) catalyst complex after in situ neutralization of the acidic proton in AMPSA with tri(n‐butyl)amine (TBA). A 5 mol % excess of TBA was required to completely neutralize the acid and prevent protonation of the bpy ligand, as well as to avoid side reactions caused by large excess of TBA. The use of activators generated by electron transfer (AGET) ATRP with ascorbic acid as reducing agent resulted in both increased conversion of the AMPSA monomer during polymerization (up to 50% with a 0.8 [ascorbic acid]/[Cu(II)] ratio) and much shorter polymerization times (<30 min). Block copolymers and molecular brushes containing AMPSA side chains were prepared using this method, and the solution and surface behavior of these materials were investigated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5386–5396, 2009     

原子转移自由基聚合引发体系的最新研究进展

本文介绍了关于原子转移自由基聚合（ATRP）引发-活化-失活过程的最新研究情况,包括RATRP、SR&NI ATRP、AGET ATRP、ARGET ATRP以及ICAR ATRP等新型ATRP引发体系。这些新型ATRP体系逐渐克服了通常ATRP体系的局限性,尤其是后两种体系仅需微量（1～50 ppm）价态稳定的过渡金属络合物调控聚合,大大简化了ATRP方法的工业化生产程序;本文同时介绍了杂化及双金属ATRP催化体系,这两种新型催化体系具有较高的催化活性和对聚合反应的调控能力,而且通过简单地过滤或沉降就可从聚合产物当中脱除。     

Competitive Equilibria in Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

With the recent development of new initiation techniques in atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) that allow catalysts to be employed at unprecedented low concentrations (∼10 ppm), a thorough understanding of competitive equilibria that can affect catalyst performance is becoming increasingly important. Such mechanistic considerations are discussed herein, including i) factors affecting the position of the ATRP equilibrium; ii) dissociation of the ATRP catalyst at high dilution and loss of deactivator due to halide dissociation; iii) conditional stability constants as related to competitive monomer, solvent, and reducing agent complexation as well as ligand selection with respect to protonation in acidic media; and iv) competitive equilibria involving electron transfer reactions, including the radical oxidation to carbocations or reduction to carbanions, radical coordination to the metal catalyst, and disproportionation of the Cu^I-based ATRP activator.     

AGET ATRP in water and inverse miniemulsion: A facile route for preparation of high‐molecular‐weight biocompatible brush‐like polymers

Activators generated by electron transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP) of oligo(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacrylate (OEOMA) was investigated in homogeneous aqueous solution targeting DP = 1000, and in inverse miniemulsion targeting DP = 600, at 30 °C. Several reaction parameters were examined in the preparation of biocompatible, brush‐like, high‐molecular‐weight, water‐soluble polymers. They include concentration of ascorbic acid (AscA), ratio of water to OEOMA, mode of addition of AscA, and ratio of initiator to Cu(II) complex. The results obtained in these studies indicate that AGET ATRP retains all of the benefits of normal ATRP and, additionally, provides a facile route for the preparation of well‐controlled high‐molecular‐weight polymers because of the use of oxidatively stable catalyst precursors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1771–1781, 2009     

Iron(III)‐mediated AGET ATRP of styrene using tris(3,6‐dioxaheptyl)amine as a ligand

A commercially available tris(3,6‐dioxaheptyl)amine (TDA‐1) was used as a novel ligand for activator generated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP) of styrene in bulk or solution mediated by iron(III) catalyst in the presence of a limited amount of air. FeCl₃ · 6H₂O and (1‐bromoethyl)benzene (PEBr) were used as the catalyst and initiator, respectively; and environmentally benign ascorbic acid (VC) was used as the reducing agent. The polymerizations show the features of “living”/controlled free‐radical polymerizations and well‐defined polystyrenes with molecular weight M_n = 2400–36,500 g/mol and narrow polydispersity (M_w/M_n = 1.11–1.29) were obtained. The “living” feature of the obtained polymer was further confirmed by a chain‐extension experiment. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2002–2008, 2009     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of functional monomers employing Cu‐based catalysts at low concentration: Polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate

Initiators for continuous activator regeneration atom transfer radical polymerization (ICAR ATRP) of an epoxide‐containing monomer, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), was successfully carried out using low concentration of catalyst (ca. 105 ppm) at 60 °C in anisole. The copper complex of tris(2‐pyridylmethyl)amine was used as the catalyst, diethyl 2‐bromo‐2‐methylmalonate as the initiator, and 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile as the reducing agent. When moderate degrees of polymerization were targeted (up to 200), special purification of the monomer, other than removal of the polymerization inhibitor, was not required to achieve good control. To synthesize well‐defined polymers with higher degrees of polymerization (600), it was essential to use very pure monomer, and polymers of molecular weights exceeding 50,000 g mol^?1 and M_w/M_n = 1.10 were prepared. The developed procedures were used to chain‐extend bromine‐terminated poly(methyl methacrylate) macroinitiator prepared by activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) ATRP. The Sn^II‐mediated ARGET ATRP technique was not suitable for the polymerization of GMA and resulted in polymers with multimodal molecular weight distributions. This was due to the occurrence of epoxide ring‐opening reactions, catalyzed by Sn^II and Sn^IV. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Rate‐enhanced ATRP in the presence of catalytic amounts of base: An example of iron‐mediated AGET ATRP of MMA

The catalytic amount of inorganic bases (i.e., NaOH, Na₃PO₄, NaHCO₃, and Na₂CO₃) and organic bases such as pyridine and triethylamine was used as the additives in an iron‐mediated atom transfer radical polymerization with activators generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) of a polar monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA) using FeCl₃·6H₂O as the catalyst, ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) as the initiator, ascorbic acid (AsAc) as the reducing agent, and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr) as the ligand. All these bases can result in dual enhancement of polymerization rate and controllability over molecular weight while keeping low M_w/M_n values (<1.3) for the resultant polymers. For example, the polymerization rate of AGET ATRP with a molar ratio of [MMA]₀/[EBiB]₀/[FeCl₃·6H₂O]₀/[TBABr]₀/[AsAc]₀/[NaOH]₀ = 500/1/1/2/2/1.5 using NaOH as the additives was more than two times of that without NaOH. The nature of “living”/controlled free radical polymerization in the presence of base was confirmed by chain‐extension experiments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Iron-mediated AGET ATRP of styrene and methyl methacrylate using ascorbic acid sodium salt as reducing agent

Atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene(St) and methyl methacrylate(MMA) in bulk and in different solvents using activators generated by electron transfer(AGET ATRP) were investigated in the presence of a limited amount of air using FeCl3·6H2O as the catalyst, ascorbic acid sodium salt(AsAc-Na) as the reducing agent, and a cheap and commercially available tetrabutylammonium bromide(TBABr) as the ligand. It was found that polymerization in THF resulted in shorter induction period than that in bulk and in toluene for AGET ATRP of St, while referring to AGET ATRP of MMA, polymerization in THF showed three advantages compared with that in bulk and toluene: 1) shortening the induction period, 2) enhancing the polymerization rate and 3) having better controllability. The living features of the obtained polymers were verified by chain end analysis and chain-extension experiments.     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene in toluene/water mixtures

The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene in water/toluene mixtures was studied. A linear dependence of the molecular weight on conversion was observed, but the initiation efficiency decreased when the catalyst concentration increased. The variation of the amount of water in the system affected the control of the ATRP, indicating that the presence of the aqueous phase influenced the concentration of copper halides in the organic phase. The partitioning of copper halides resulted in almost complete migration of Cu^II into the aqueous phase, which assisted with catalyst removal after polymerization. For example, the amount of residual copper in the organic phase determined by inductively coupled plasma was less than 1 ppm when the polymerization mixture was exposed to air for 30 min. The ATRP of styrene in water/toluene mixtures occurred with the preservation of Br at the polymer chain end, as confirmed by successful block copolymerization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3153–3160, 2002     

Photoirradiated Fe-Mediated AGET ATRP of Methyl Methacrylate in the Presence of Alcohol

In this study, photoirradiated Fe-mediated AGET (activators generated by electron transfer) atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was investigated at ambient temperature in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) using carbon tetrachloride as initiator, FeCl₃·6H₂O/bipyridine (Bpy) as catalyst complex, and alcohol as reducing agent. Linear semi-logarithmic plot of conversion vs. time was obtained from the kinetic experiments, and the number-average molecular weight increased linearly with monomer conversion and corresponded to the theoretic values with molecular weight distributions (M_w/M_n) as low as 1.25, which agreed with the character of controlled/living polymerization. The kinds of alcohol played an important role in photoirradiated Fe-mediated AGET ATRP of MMA. The living characteristics were demonstrated through chain extension experiment. The obtained polymer was characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gel permeation chromatography.     

A copper‐based reverse atom‐transfer radical polymerization process for the living radical polymerization of polyacrylonitrile

The reverse atom‐transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) technique using CuCl₂/2,2′‐bipyridine (bipy) complex as a catalyst was applied to the living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN). A hexasubstituted ethane thermal iniferter, diethyl 2,3‐dicyano‐2,3‐diphenylsuccinate (DCDPS), was firstly used as the initiator in this copper‐based RATRP initiation system. A CuCl₂ to bipy ratio of 0.5 not only gives the best control of molecular weight and its distribution, but also provides rather rapid reaction rate. The rate of polymerization increases with increasing the polymerization temperature, and the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 57.4 kJ mol^?1. Because the polymers obtained were end‐functionalized by chlorine atoms, they were used as macroinitiators to proceed the chain extension polymerization in the presence of CuCl/bipy catalyst system via a conventional ATRP process. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 226–231, 2006     

Construction of hydroxyl‐terminated poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) brushes on silicon wafer via surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

Surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI‐ATRP) of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) on silicon wafer in the presence of 2‐mercaptoethanol (ME) chain transfer agent was conducted in attempt to create controllable hydroxyl‐terminated brushes. The initiator‐immobilized substrate, was prepared by the esterification of hydroxyl groups on silicon wafer with 2‐bromopropionyl bromide (2‐BPB); followed by the ATRP of NIPAM using a catalyst system, that is, Cu(I)Br/2,2′‐bipyridine (2,2′‐bpy) and a chain transfer agent, that is, ME. The formation of homogeneous tethered poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (poly(NIPAM) brushes with hydroxyl end‐group, whose thickness can be tuned by chancing ME concentration, is evidenced by using the combination of grazing angle attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, and water contact‐angle measurements. The calculation of grafting parameters from experimental measurements indicated the synthesis of densely grafted poly(NIPAM) films with hydroxyl end‐group on silicon wafer and allowed us to predict a ME concentration for forming a “brush” conformation for the chains. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3880–3887, 2010