Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile under microwave irradiation

Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization was first used to successfully synthesize polyacrylonitrile under microwave irradiation. FeCl₃, coordinated by isophthalic acid, was used as the catalyst, and 2,2′‐azobisisoheptonitrilewas used as the initiator. N,N‐Dimethylformamide was used as the solvent to improve the solubility of the ligand. Under the same experimental conditions, the apparent rate constant under microwave irradiation was higher than that under conventional heating. The polymerization not only showed the best control of the molecular weight and its distribution but also provided a rather rapid reaction rate with the [acrylonitrile]/[2,2′‐azobisisoheptonitrile]/[FeCl₃]/[isophthalic acid] ratio of 300 : 1 : 1 : 2. The polymers obtained were used as macroinitiators to initiate the chain extension and successfully synthesize acrylonitrile polymers with a molecular weight higher than 50,000 and a narrow polydispersity as low as 1.30. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of lauryl methacrylate

The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of lauryl methacrylate (LMA) with an ethyl 2‐bromobutyrate/CuCl/N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine initiation system was successfully carried out in toluene, and poly(lauryl methacrylate) with a low polydispersity (1.2 < weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight < 1.5) was obtained. Plots of ln ([M])₀/([M]) versus time and plots of the molecular weight versus conversion showed a linear dependence, indicating a constant number of propagating species throughout the polymerization. The rate of polymerization was 0.56‐order with respect to the concentration of the initiator and 1.30‐order with respect to the concentration of the Cu(I) catalyst. In addition, the effect of the solvent on the polymerization was investigated, and the thermodynamic data and activation parameters for the solution ATRP of LMA were reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1117–1125, 2003     

Atom transfer radical bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate under microwave irradiation

Microwave irradiation (MI) was applied to the atom transfer radical bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate. The influence of the amount of the refluxing solvent used for controlling the polymerization temperature, irradiation power, irradiation time, and initiator concentration on the conversion, molecular weight, and molecular weight distribution of the polymers was studied with a benzyl chloride/cuprous chloride/2,2′‐bipyridyl initiation system and compared with the corresponding conventional heating (CH) process. In comparison with CH, the results can be summarized as follows. The polymerization rate for reaching 70% conversion increased 2.6–5.1 times under an irradiation power of 270–630 W. The apparent increasing rate constant was much larger than that with CH and increased with the irradiation power. MI produced a higher polymerization rate and conversion even if the concentration of the initiation system was very low (initial monomer concentration/initial initiator concentration = 200:0.33 mol/mol) and the polydispersity index (DI) was narrower; however, CH yielded almost no polymers. MI promoted the activities of the catalyst and monomer, and its initiation efficiency was higher than that with CH and increased with the irradiation power. MI obviously played an important role in promoting the polymerization rate of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). MI reduced the concentration of the initiation system and perhaps made ATRP controlled (cf. uncontrolled ATRP with CH); at the same time, it made the DI values of the polymers narrower. In comparison with the initiation efficiencies found with benzyl bromide and 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile used as initiators, the initiation efficiency with p‐toluene sulfonyl chloride used as an initiator was higher; moreover, DI was much narrower (1.17), and the polymerization rate was greater. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 1787–1793, 2003     

Effects of the solvent polarity on the atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by 4‐(chloromethyl)phenyltrimethoxysilane

The controllability of the atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in the polar solvent N,N‐dimethylformamide and the nonpolar solvent xylene with 4‐(chloromethyl)phenyltrimethoxysilane as an initiator and with CuCl/2,2′‐bipyridine and CuCl/4,4′‐di(5‐nonyl)‐2,2′‐bipyridine as catalyst systems was studied. Gel permeation chromatography analysis established that in the nonpolar solvent xylene, much better control of the molecular weight and polydispersity of poly(methyl methacrylate) was achieved with the CuCl/4,4′‐di(5‐nonyl)‐2,2′‐bipyridine catalyst system than with the CuCl/2,2′‐bipyridine as catalyst system. In the polar solvent N,N‐dimethylformamide, unlike in xylene, the polymerization was more controllable with the CuCl/2,2′‐bipyridine catalyst system than with the CuCl/4,4′‐di(5‐nonyl)‐2,2′‐bipyridine catalyst system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 2751–2754, 2007     

Synthesis of well‐defined poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles by reverse atom transfer radical polymerization in a microemulsion

Well‐defined poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with an α‐isobutyronitrile group and an ω‐bromine atom as the end groups was synthesized by the microemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) at 70°C with a 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile/CuBr₂/2,2′‐bipyridine system. The conversion of the polymerization reached 81.9%. The viscosity‐average molecular weight of PMMA was high (380,000), and the polydispersity index was 1.58. The polymerization of MMA exhibited some controlled radical polymerization characteristics. The mechanism of controlled polymerization was studied. The presence of hydrogen and bromine atoms as end groups of the obtained PMMA was determined by ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy. The shape and size of the final polymer particles were analyzed by scanning probe microscopy, and the diameters of the obtained particles were usually in the range of 60–100 nm. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 3670–3676, 2006     

原子转移自由基乳液聚合研究进展

原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP)作为一种可控/活性聚合方法,可对聚合物结构进行精确控制;乳液聚合以水作为分散介质,具有经济、环保等特点。因此,乳液ATRP结合了两者的优点,具有工业化生产的潜力。首先分析了影响乳液ATRP的各种因素,然后综述了正向ATRP、RATRP(反向ATRP)、SR&NI ATRP(正向/反向同时进行的ATRP)和AGET ATRP(电子转移活化剂ATRP)等机制及研究进展,最后对乳液ATRP的发展方向进行了展望。     

Synthesis of polyacrylonitrile via reverse atom transfer radical polymerization initiated by 1,1,2,2‐tetraphenyl‐1,2‐ethanediol/FeCl3/triphenylphosphine

FeCl₃ coordinated by triphenylphosphine was first used as the catalyst in the 1,1,2,2‐tetraphenyl‐1,2‐ethanediol‐initiated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile. A FeCl₃/triphenylphosphine ratio of 0.5 not only gave the best control of the molecular weight and its distribution but also provided a rather rapid reaction rate. The rate of polymerization increased with increasing polymerization temperature, and the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 62.4 kJ/mol. When FeCl₃ was replaced with CuCl₂, the reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile did not show prominent living characteristics. To demonstrate the active nature of the polymer chain end, the polymers were used as macroinitiators to advance the chain‐extension polymerization in the presence of a CuCl/2,2′‐bipyridine catalyst system via a conventional atom transfer radical polymerization process. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 4041–4045, 2007     

High‐molecular‐weight polyacrylonitrile by atom transfer radical polymerization

A single‐pot atom transfer radical polymerization was used for the first time to successfully synthesize polyacrylonitrile with a molecular weight higher than 80,000 and a narrow polydispersity as low as 1.18. This was achieved with CuBr/isophthalic acid as the catalyst, 2‐bromopropionitrile as the initiator, and N,N‐dimethylformamide as the solvent. The effects of the solvent on the polymerization of acrylonitrile were also investigated. The induction period was shorter in N,N‐dimethylformamide than in propylene carbonate and toluene, and the rate of the polymerization in N,N‐dimethylformamide was fastest. The molecular weight of polyacrylonitrile agreed reasonably well with the theoretical molecular weight in N,N‐dimethylformamide. When chlorine was used in either the initiator or the catalyst, the rate of polymerization showed a trend of decreasing, and the molecular weight deviated from the theoretical predication significantly. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3372–3376, 2006     

Atom transfer radical polymerizations of methyl methacrylate and styrene with an iniferter reagent as the initiator

Three novel iniferter reagents were synthesized and used as initiators for the polymerizations of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene (St) in the presence of copper(I) bromide and N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine at 90 and 115°C, respectively. All the polymerizations were well controlled, with a linear increase in the number‐average molecular weights during increased monomer conversions and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight ≤ 1.36) throughout the polymerization processes. The polymerization rate of MMA was faster in bulk than that in solution and was influenced by the different polarities of the solvents. A slight change in the chemical structures of the initiators had no obvious effect on the polymerization rates of MMA and St. The initiator efficiency toward MMA was lower than that toward St. The results of ¹H‐NMR, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrum analysis, and chain‐extension experiments demonstrated that well‐defined poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene bearing photolabile groups could be obtained via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with three iniferter reagents as initiators. The polymerization mechanism for this novel initiation system was a common ATRP process. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile

FeCl₃ coordinated by succinic acid was used as the catalyst for the first time in azobisisobutyronitrile‐initiated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN). N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) was used as a solvent to improve the solubility of the ligand. A FeCl₃ to succinic acid ratio of 0.5 not only gives the best control of molecular weight and its distribution but also provides rather rapid reaction rate. Effects of different solvents on polymerization of AN were also investigated. The rate of the polymerization in DMF is faster than that in propylene carbonate and toluene. The molecular weight of polyacrylonitrile agrees reasonably well with the theoretical molecular weight in DMF. The rate of polymerization increases with increasing the polymerization temperature, and the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 64.8 kJ mol^?1. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 32–36, 2006     

Effect of ferrocene moieties on the copper‐based atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by copper–tripodal complexes with ferrocene moieties (CuX/TRENFcImine, where X is Br or Cl, and TRENFcImine is tris‐[2‐(ferrocenylmethyleneimino)ethyl]amine) was investigated to understand the effect of redox active moieties on the performance of ATRP catalysts. The CuBr/TRENFcImine system was highly active, with 82% conversion in 2 h. However, the polymerization became slower at higher molar ratios of monomer to catalyst. The polydispersity index was broad, and the initiation efficiency was relatively low. On the basis of the conformational analysis, the highly active and less controlled polymerization was probably caused by the electronic effect rather than the steric effect on the ferrocene moieties, which led to the higher and lower values in the activation and deactivation steps, respectively. The polydispersity index was improved by the addition of CuBr₂, but this led to slower rates of polymerization. The effect of halide groups on ATRP caused a faster rate in the CuBr/TRENFcImine polymerization system than in the CuCl/TRENFcImine system. The higher molar ratio of monomer to catalyst had no significant effect on the CuCl/TRENFcImine system. Nonetheless, the trace of water in the CuCl₂·2H₂O system accelerated the rate of propagation, which led to a higher molecular weight. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Synthesis of crosslinked polyacrylonitrile via atom transfer radical polymerization with activators regenerated by electron transfer and use of the resin in mercury removal after modification

Crosslinked polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was synthesized with divinylbenzene as the crosslinker with an iron(III)‐mediated atom transfer radical polymerization method with activators regenerated by electron transfer. The polymerization exhibited first‐order kinetics with respect to the polymerization time. Hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH₂OH·HCl) was used to modify the cyano groups of the crosslinked PAN to obtain amidoxime (AO) groups. The AO‐crosslinked PAN was used to remove Hg(II). The optimum pH, adsorption kinetics, and adsorption isotherms were investigated. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic block copolymers of methyl methacrylate with poly(ethylene oxide) macroinitiators formed by atom transfer radical polymerization

Amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with methyl methacrylate (MMA) were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization in bulk and in various solvents with a difunctional PEO macroinitiator and a Cu(I)X/N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine catalyst system at 85°C where X=Cl or Br. The polymerization proceeded via controlled/living process, and the molecular weights of the obtained block copolymers increased linearly with monomer conversion. In the process, the polydispersity decreased and finally reached a value of less than 1.3. The polymerization followed first‐order kinetics with respect to monomer concentration, and increases in the ethylene oxide repeating units or chain length in the macroinitiator decreased the rate of polymerization. The rate of polymerization of MMA with the PEO chloro macroinitiator and CuCl proceeded at approximately half the rate of bromo analogs. A faster rate of polymerization and controlled molecular weights with lower polydispersities were observed in bulk polymerization compared with polar and nonpolar solvent systems. In the bulk polymerization, the number‐average molecular weight by gel permeation chromatography (M_n,GPC) values were very close to the theoretical line, whereas lower than the theoretical line were observed in solution polymerizations. The macroinitiator and their block copolymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H‐NMR, matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, thermogravimetry (TG)/differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). TG/DTA studies of the homo and block copolymers showed two‐step and multistep decomposition patterns. The DSC thermograms exhibited two glass‐transition temperatures at ?17.7 and 92°C for the PEO and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blocks, respectively, which indicated that microphase separation between the PEO and PMMA domains. SEM studies indicated a fine dispersion of PEO in the PMMA matrix. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 989–1000, 2005     

Emulsion atom transfer radical polymerization of 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate

The emulsion atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) was carried out with ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) as an initiator and copper bromide (CuBr)/4,4′-dinonyl-2,2′-bipyridyl (dNbpy) as a catalyst system. The effects of surfactant type and concentration, temperature, monomer/initiator ratio, and CuBr₂ addition on the system livingness, polymer molecular weight control, and latex stability were examined in detail. It was found that the polymerization systems with Tween 80 and Brij 98 as surfactants at 30 °C gave the best latex stability. The polymer samples prepared under these conditions had narrow molecular weight distributions (M_w/M_n=1.1-1.2) and linear relationships of number-average molecular weight versus monomer conversion.     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated with a macroinitiator of poly(vinyl acetate)

Well‐defined poly(vinyl acetate‐b‐methyl methacrylate) block copolymers were successfully synthesized by the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in p‐xylene with CuBr as a catalyst, 2,2′‐bipyridine as a ligand, and trichloromethyl‐end‐grouped poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc–CCl₃) as a macroinitiator that was prepared via the telomerization of vinyl acetate with chloroform as a telogen. The block copolymers were characterized with gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, and ¹H‐NMR. The effects of the solvent and temperature on ATRP of MMA were studied. The control over a large range of molecular weights was investigated with a high [MMA]/[PVAc–CCl₃] ratio for potential industry applications. In addition, the mechanism of the polymerization was discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1089–1094, 2006     

Atom transfer radical copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate and methyl methacrylate

Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) copolymers were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The effect of different molar fractions of GMA, ranging from 0.28 to 1.0, on the polymer polydispersity index (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight) as the indicator of a controlled process was investigated at 70°C, with ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate as an initiator and 4,4′‐dinonyl‐2,2′‐bipyridyne (dNbpy)/CuBr as a catalyst system in anisole. The monomer reactivity ratios (r values) were obtained by the application of the conventional linearization Fineman–Ross method (r_GMA = 1.24 ± 0.02 and r_MMA = 0.85 ± 0.03) and by the Mayo–Lewis method (r_GMA = 1.19 ± 0.04 and r_MMA = 0.86 ± 0.03). The molecular weights and polydispersities of the copolymers exhibited a linear increase with GMA content. The copolymer compositions were determined by ¹H‐NMR and showed a domination of syndiotactic structures. The glass‐transition temperatures (T_g) of the copolymers analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) decreased in the range 105–65°C with increasing GMA units. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺作为配体催化原子转移自由基聚合

采用水杨醛和二乙烯三胺反应合成用于原子转移自由基聚合的新型配体——N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺,通过元素分析和核磁共振表征N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺,以乙-溴代丙酸乙酯（EBP）为引发剂,用N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺催化合成聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（PMMA）,并采用凝胶渗透色谱（GPC）测其相对分子质量及其分布,考察聚合体系的动力学.结果表明：甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）/EBP/溴化亚铜/N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺体系和MMA/EBP/溴化亚铜/N-水杨醛缩二乙烯三胺/N,N-二甲基甲酰胺（DMF）体系的原子转移自由基聚合符合一级动力学规律,且具有＂活性＂和可控性,相对分子质量分布较窄（前者为1.46,后者为1.34）,加入溶剂后,催化活性和自由基浓度均有所下降.     

Kinetic study of atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in ionic liquids

The kinetics of methyl methacrylate (MMA) homopolymerization performed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is investigated in detail using ethyl‐2‐bromopropionate (EPN‐Br) as initiator, CuBr as catalyst, and pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as ligand in ionic liquids (ILs) and acetonitrile. ILs in this research covered two different substitutional imidazolium cations and anions including halogen and halogen‐free ones. The typical cations include 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium, 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium and the typical anions include bromide, tetrafluoroborate. The effects of solvents, temperature, and reaction ingredients ratios on the polymerization kinetics are all investigated in this article and the apparent energy of activation (ΔE) calculated for the ATRP of MMA in 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium tetrafluoroborate is 6.95 KJ/mol. The number‐average molecular weights (M_n) increase linearly with conversion but are much higher than the theoretical values. It is probably due to the low concentration of deactivator at the early stage of polymerization and the lower bond energy of C‐Br in PMMA‐Br than that in EPN‐Br. Moreover, the catalyst is easily separated from the polymer and the regenerated catalyst is reused for more than three times. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Reverse atom‐transfer radical polymerization of acrylonitrile catalyzed by FeCl3/iminodiacetic acid

FeCl₃ coordinated by iminodiacetic acid (IMA) was Changed used for the first time as the catalyst in azobisisobutyronitrile‐initiated reverse atom‐transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of acrylonitrile (AN). An FeCl₃ to IMA ratio of 1:2 not only gave the best control of molecular weight and its distribution but also provided a rather rapid reaction rate. The effects of solvents on the polymerization of AN were also investigated. The rate of the polymerization in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) was faster than in propylene carbonate or toluene. The molecular weight of polyacrylonitrile agreed reasonably well with the theoretical molecular weight in DMF. The rate of polymerization increased with increasing polymerization temperature and the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 54.8 kJ mol⁻¹. The reverse ATRP of AN did not show obvious living characteristics with CuCl₂ instead of FeCl₃. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

原子转移自由基聚合负载化催化剂研究进展

综述了几种原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP)用负载化催化体系的组成及应用,主要包括硅胶或石英、交联聚苯乙烯或其它聚合物为载体进行的催化剂负载化,它们都能够部分解决催化剂残留问题,但却有一定的局限性;负载/可溶性混杂催化体系成为解决这一问题的新方法,而且它与传统的均相催化体系相比,可控性没有明显差异,有希望作为未来解决催化剂残留的有效方法.最后展望了ATRP负载化催化荆的发展方向.