FeCl3/Acetic Acid-mediated Reverse Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Acrylonitrile

Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) has been successfully applied in the synthesis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with FeCl₃/acetic acid as catalyst in the presence of conventional initiator azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) at 65°C in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). A FeCl₃ to acetic acid ratio of 1:2 not only gave better control on polymer's molecular weight and its distribution, but also provided a rapid polymerization rate compared with any other molar ratio of FeCl₃ to acetic acid. The polymerization rate increased with increasing temperature and the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 80.6 kJ·mol^?1. In comparison with dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, cyclohexanone and ethyl acetate, DMF was considered to be the best solvent of the polymerization for its polarity. Analysis of ¹H-NMR further confirmed the living nature of the polymerization.