| Abstract: | Esters or carbonates of N‐hydroxypyridine‐2‐thione (Barton esters) were appended to either carboxymethyl or hydroxypropyl cellulose. Irradiation of the cellulose bound Barton esters in monomer initiated free radical graft copolymerization with minimal concomitant homopolymerization. Grafting of styrene to carboxymethyl cellulose was accompanied by backbone cleavage. The hydroxypropyl spacer group minimized backbone degradation; styrene, acylamide and N‐isopropyl acrylamide could be grafted to hydroxypropyl cellulose in tetrahydrofuran solution. Treatment of Barton carbonate modified hydroxypropyl cellulose with styrene in the presence of TEMPO afforded corresponding TEMPO adducts, which can be used to promote the controlled radical graft polymerization of styrene. Grafts were analyzed independently after hydrolysis of the cellulose backbone. |
