The bulk polymerization of styrene catalyzed by Nd(P204)3/MgBu2/HMPA (hexamethyl phospho-ramide) was carried out in capped glass tubes. The effects of reaction conditions on polymerization conversion and molecular weight in the range of high conversion were investigated. The molecular weight of the resultant polymers is dramatically high and its distribution is relatively narrow. The polymerization process demonstrates the feature of living polymerization and auto-acceleration phenomenon. The auto-acceleration phenomenon is attributed to the non-instantaneous formation of the active species. The experimental data suggest that chain transfer to MgBu2 is one of the factors governing the molecular weight development. A mechanism of polymerization is presented with the chain transfer process incorporated. 相似文献
Summary: Reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations of methyl acrylate (MA) in solution containing either 22 vol.‐% CO2 or toluene were performed at 80 °C and 300 bar using cumyl dithiobenzoate (CDB) at concentrations between 1.8 × 10?3 to 2.5 × 10?2 mol · L?1 as the RAFT agent. Product molecular weight distributions and average molecular weights indicated the successful control of MA polymerization in CO2, even at low CDB concentrations. RAFT polymerization rates were strongly retarded by CDB and were lower in CO2 than in toluene solution. The enhanced fluidity associated with the addition of CO2 to the polymerizing system provided access to mechanistic details of RAFT polymerization. The data of the present study into MA, together with our recent results on RAFT polymerization of styrene in solution of CO2 and of toluene, suggest that self‐termination of intermediate RAFT radicals is responsible for retardation in case of high concentrations of this intermediate and in case of enhanced fluidity, which may be achieved by polymerization in solution of CO2.
Living radical polymerization (LRP) techniques and their ability to improve the morphology of crosslinked polymer networks by controlling polymer chain growth are reviewed. Recent successes in the creation of improved molecularly imprinted polymer networks are also discussed. LRP offers the ability to control molecular weight, polydispersity, and tacticity while reducing microgel formation in polymers created via free‐radical polymerization (FRP). The improved network architecture of polymers created via LRP has great potential, especially when considering imprinted networks which have traditionally been plagued by heterogeneity in network morphology and binding affinities. Using LRP can considerably improve template recognition and further delay template transport in imprinted polymers.