New ligands for the Fe(III)‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

A series of (di)picolinic acids and their derivates are investigated as novel complexing tridentate or bidentate ligands in the iron‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in N,N‐dimethylformamide at 100 °C with 2,2′‐azobisisobutyrontrile as an initiator. The polymerization rates and polydispersity indices (1.32–1.8) of the resulting polymers are dependent on the structures of the ligands employed. Different iron complexes may be involved in iron‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization, depending on the type of acid used. ¹H NMR spectroscopy has been used to study the structure of the resulting polymers. Chain‐extension reactions have been performed to further confirm the living nature of this catalytic system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2912–2921, 2006     

A novel tridentate nitrogen donor as ligand in copper catalyzed ATRP of methyl methacrylate

A tridentate ligand, BPIEP: 2,6‐bis[1‐(2,6‐diisopropyl phenylimino) ethyl] pyridine, having central pyridine unit and two peripheral imine coordination sites was effectively employed in controlled/“living” radical polymerization of MMA at 90°C in toluene as solvent, Cu^IBr as catalyst, and ethyl‐2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) as initiator resulting in well‐defined polymers with polydispersities M_w/M_n ≤ 1.23. The rate of polymerization follows first‐order kinetics, k_app = 3.4 × 10^?5 s^?1, indicating the presence of low radical concentration ([P*] ≤ 10^?8) throughout the reaction. The polymerization rate attains a maximum at a ligand‐to‐metal ratio of 2:1 in toluene at 90°C. The solvent concentration (v/v, with respect to monomer) has a significant effect on the polymerization kinetics. The polymerization is faster in polar solvents like, diphenylether, and anisole, as compared to toluene. Increasing the monomer concentration in toluene resulted in a better control of polymerization. The molecular weights (M_n,SEC) increased linearly with conversion and were found to be higher than predicted molecular (M_n,Cal). However, the polydispersity remained narrow, i.e., ≤1.23. The initiator efficiency at lower monomer concentration approaches a value of 0.7 in 110 min as compared to 0.5 in 330 min at higher monomer concentration. The aging of the copper salt complexed with BPIEP had a beneficial effect and resulted in polymers with narrow polydispersitities and higher conversion. PMMA obtained at room temperature in toluene (33%, v/v) gave PDI of 1.22 (M_n = 8500) in 48 h whereas, at 50°C the PDI is 1.18 (M_n = 10,300), which is achieved in 23 h. The plot of lnk_app versus 1/T gave an apparent activation energy of polymerization as (ΔE^≠_app) 58.29 KJ/mol and enthalpy of equilibrium (ΔH⁰_eq) to 28.8 KJ/mol. Reverse ATRP of MMA was successfully performed using AIBN in bulk as well as solution. The controlled nature of the polymerization reaction was established through kinetic studies and chain extension experiments. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4996–5008, 2005     

Polymerization behaviors of racemic and chiral amphiphilic monomers in organized bilayer membranes of lamellar liquid crystalline phase

A racemic amphiphilic monomer, n‐dodecyl glyceryl itaconate (DGI), forms bilayer membranes in water in the presence of small amount of ionic cosurfactant and shows iridescent color. A chiral DGI, S‐DGI, also shows an iridescent property, but with a rather red shift in the color, which can be ascribed to the increased packing density of the monomer in the bilayer membranes. Chrial DGI has a more compact packing density than racemic one owing to closer distance between the monomer molecules; the conversion rate, however, is slower than that of racemic one when H₂O₂ is used as an initiator. When the initiator is changed to an amphiphilic one, 4‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy) phenyl‐(2‐hydroxy‐2‐propyl) ketone (Irgacure 2959), the chiral DGI shows even a little faster conversion rate than that of racemic one. The NMR chemical shift results of protons in benzene ring show that the molecules of Irgacure 2959 insert into the bilayer membranes. The molecular weights of the corresponding polymers prove that the initiation by H₂O₂ is restricted compared to that by Irgacure 2959. It is concluded that the decelerated polymerization behavior of chiral DGI initiated by H₂O₂ is a result of limited diffusion of the initiator into the lamellar bilayer structures. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4891–4900, 2007     

Living/controlled radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides with styrene in 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and anisole

The atom transfer radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides such as N‐phenylmaleimide (PhMI), N‐cyclohexylmaleimide (ChMI), and N‐butylmaleimide (NBMI) with styrene initiated with dendritic polyarylether 2‐bromoisobutyrates in an ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]), at room temperature and anisole at 110 °C was investigated. The dendritic‐linear block copolymers obtained in ionic liquid possessed well‐defined molecular weight and low polydispersity (1.05 < M_w/M_n < 1.32) and could be used as a macroinitiator for chain‐extension polymerization, suggesting the living nature of the reaction system. The ionic liquids containing catalyst could be recycled in the atom transfer radical polymerization systems without further treatment. Compared with polymerization conducted in anisole, the polymerization in ionic liquid had a stronger tendency for alternation. The tendency for alternation decreased in the order PhMI > NBMI > ChMI in [bmim][PF₆] and PhMI > ChMI > NBMI in anisole. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2156–2165, 2003     

UV‐ignited frontal polymerization of an epoxy resin

By combining frontal polymerization and radical‐induced cationic polymerization, it was possible to cure thick samples of an epoxy monomer bleached by UV light. The effect of the relative amounts of cationic photoinitiator and radical initiator was thoroughly investigated and was related to the front's velocity and its maximum temperature. The materials obtained were characterized by quantitative conversion also in the deeper layers, not reached by UV light. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2066–2072, 2004     

Photoinitiators with functional groups. VII. Covalently bonded camphorquinone—amines

Camphorquinone (CQ), a widely used photoinitiator (PI) in dental applications, was covalently bonded to aromatic amines to enhance the rate of electron and proton transfer effect due to the close vicinity of the diketone and the amine group. 10‐bromocamphorquinone and 10‐bromomethylcamphorquinone were selected as suitable precursors for esterification with the carboxyl group containing aromatic amines based on 4‐dimethylaminobenzoic acid. Properties of the new photoinitiating systems were investigated by UV spectroscopy and differential scanning photocalorimetry in lauryl acrylate. Compared to physical mixtures, in all cases similar or even better performance was obtained. Surprisingly, 10‐acetyl derivatives 7 – 9 and 18 especially, were found to be highly reactive. Compared to CQ/ethyl 4‐dimethylaminobenzoate, the rate of photopolymerization was increased by a factor of up to 2. Intramolecular reaction was confirmed by photo‐differential scanning calorimetry experiments with varying PI concentrations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4948–4963, 2004     

Polymerization of 1,3‐dienes with functional groups. III. Free‐radical polymerization of N,N‐diethyl‐2‐methylene‐3‐butenamide

Free‐radical homo‐ and copolymerization behavior of N,N‐diethyl‐2‐methylene‐3‐butenamide (DEA) was investigated. When the monomer was heated in bulk at 60 °C for 25 h without initiator, rubbery, solid gel was formed by the thermal polymerization. No such reaction was observed when the polymerization was carried out in 2 mol/L of benzene solution with with 1 mol % of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. The polymerization rate (R_p) equation was R_p ∝ [DEA]^1.1[AIBN]^0.51, and the overall activation energy of polymerization was calculated 84.1 kJ/mol. The microstructure of the resulting polymer was exclusively a 1,4‐structure where both 1,4‐E and 1,4‐Z structures were included. From the product analysis of the telomerization with tert‐butylmercaptan as a telogen, the modes of monomer addition were estimated to be both 1,4‐ and 4,1‐addition. The copolymerizations of this monomer with styrene and/or chloroprene as comonomers were also carried out in benzene solution at 60 °C. In the copolymerization with styrene, the monomer reactivity ratios obtained were r₁ = 5.83 and r₂ = 0.05, and the Q and e values were Q = 8.4 and e = 0.33, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 999–1007, 2004     

New 7‐membered diazepanone alkoxyamines for nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization

The synthesis of new 7‐membered diazepanone alkoxyamines [2,2,7,7‐tetramethyl‐1‐(1‐phenyl‐ethoxy)‐[1,4]diazepan‐5‐one ( 3 ) and 2,7‐diethyl‐2,3,7‐trimethyl‐1‐(1‐phenyl‐ethoxy)‐[1,4]diazepan‐5‐one ( 8 )] through the Beckmann rearrangement of piperidin‐4‐one alkoxyamines was developed. Both 3 and 8 were evaluated as initiators and regulators for the nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization of styrene and n‐butyl acrylate. 8 , a sterically highly hindered alkoxyamine readily available as a crystalline solid, allowed the fast and controlled polymerization and preparation of polymers with low polydispersity indices (1.2–1.4) up to a degree of polymerization of about 100. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3332–3341, 2004     

Preparation of macromonomers by copolymerization of methyl acrylate dimer involving β fragmentation

The unsaturated dimer of methyl acrylate [CH₂C(CO₂CH₃)CH₂CH₂CO₂CH₃, or MAD] was copolymerized with various monomers to prepare copolymers bearing the ω-unsaturated end group [CH₂C(CO₂CH₃)CH₂ ] arising from β fragmentation of the MAD propagating radical. Copolymerizations of MAD with cyclohexyl and n-butyl acrylate resulted in copolymers with ω-unsaturated end groups, and increasing the temperature up to 180 °C resulted in an increase in the rate of β fragmentation of MAD radicals relative to propagation. Only a small amount of unsaturated end groups was introduced by copolymerization with ethyl methacrylate (EMA), and the EMA content in the copolymer increased with temperature. These findings could be explained by the reversible addition of the poly(EMA) radical to MAD. The copolymerization with ethyl α-ethyl acrylate (EEA) did yield a copolymer containing unsaturated end groups with MAD units as part of the main chain, although the steric hindrance of the ethyl group suppressed homopropagation and crosspropagation of EEA, resulting in low polymerization rates. Therefore, the copolymerization of MAD with acrylic esters at high temperatures was noted as a convenient route for obtaining acrylate–MAD copolymers bearing unsaturated end groups at the ω end (macromonomer). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 597–607, 2004