Atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene with 2‐(1‐bromoethyl)‐anthraquinone as an initiator

2‐(1‐Bromoethyl)‐anthraquinone (BEAQ) was successfully used as an initiator in the atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene with CuBr/N,N,N′,N′,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as the catalyst at 110°C. The polymerizations were well controlled with a linear increase in the molecular weights (M_n's) of the polymers with monomer conversion and relatively low polydispersities (1.1 < weight‐average molecular weight (M_w)/M_n < 1.5) throughout the poly merizations. The resultant polystyrene thus possessed one chromophore moiety (2‐ethyl‐anthraquinone) at the α end and one bromine atom at the ω end, both from the initiator BEAQ. The intensity of UV absorptions of the resultant polymers decreased with increasing molecular weights of the polymers. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 2081–2085, 2006