N-(n-Alkyl)-2-pyridinemethanimine mediated atom transfer radical polymerization of lauryl methacrylate: Effect of length of alkyl group

The article describes the polymerization of lauryl methacrylate (LMA) using Cu(I)Br as catalyst for atom transfer radical polymerization in conjunction with N-(n-propyl) [PPMI]/(n-hexyl) [HPMI]/(n-octyl) [OPMI]-2-pyridinemethanimine as complex ligands. The polymerization of LMA was investigated in bulk and solution (toluene as solvent) using Cu(I)Br as catalyst, N-(n-alkyl)-2-pyridinemethanimine as ligands and ethyl-2-bromo isobutyrate (EBiB) as initiator. The ratio of LMA : CuBr : Ligand : EBiB was kept constant in all the polymerizations. In bulk polymerization, the solubility of the catalyst complex increased with increasing the length of alkyl chain on the ligand from propyl to octyl and also gave polymers with narrow molecular weight distribution. The PDI was further narrowed by using OPMI as ligand and toluene was used as solvent. The kinetics of polymerization was also analyzed and it clearly shows that % conversion increased with time. Increase in molecular weight with % conversion without affecting PDI clearly show that the system is living and living nature can be controlled by increasing the length of alkyl group. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012