One‐pot exchange reaction of acyl hydrazone combined with radical polymerization of styrene derivatives bearing acyl hydrazone moieties

We developed a one‐pot reaction combining an exchange reaction of the benzylidene moiety in an acyl hydrazone with styrene radical polymerization. The one‐pot reaction of a styrene derivative bearing a 4‐(dimethylamino)benzylidene acyl hydrazone moiety was conducted in the presence of 4‐cyanobenzaldehyde and pyridinium p‐toluene sulfonate/H₂O for the exchange reaction and AIBN as the radical polymerization initiator in N,N‐dimethylformamide at 70 °C for 20 h. The exchange reaction proceeded quantitatively, with the 4‐(dimethylamino)benzylidene acyl hydrazone moiety being exchanged with 4‐(methoxy)benzylidene acyl hydrazone, and polymerization proceeded smoothly to provide the corresponding polymer in 70% yield. Compared to traditional stepwise methods and polymer post‐polymerization modifications, this one‐pot system exhibits distinct advantages for the facile and efficient preparation of various functional polymers. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 2505–2510