Are o-Nitrobenzyl (Meth)acrylate Monomers Polymerizable by Controlled-Radical Polymerization?
-
Schumers, Jean-Marc; Fustin, Charles-Andre; Can, Aydın; Hoogenboom, Richard; Schubert, Ulrich S.; Gohy, Jean-Francois
- Abstract:
- We report on the controlled-radical polymerization of the photocleavable
o-nitrobenzyl methacrylate (NBMA) and o-nitrobenzyl acrylate (NBA) monomers.
Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), reversible addition-fragmentation
chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), and nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP)
have been evaluated. For all methods used, the acrylate-type monomer does not polymerize,
or polymerizes very slowly in a noncontrolled manner. The methacrylate-type
monomer can be polymerized by RAFT with some degree of control (PDI ~ 1.5) but
leading to molar masses up to 11,000 g/mol only. ATRP proved to be the best method
since a controlled-polymerization was achieved when conversions are limited to 30%.
In this case, polymers with molar masses up to 17,000 g/mol and polydispersity index
as low as 1.13 have been obtained. VVC
- Year:
- 2009
- Type of Publication:
- Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry
- Volume:
- 47
- Pages:
- 6504 - 6513