Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of stearyl methacrylate using 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator

Abstract

The living/controlled radical polymerization of stearyl methacrylate was carried out with a conventional radical initiator (2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile) in N,N-dimethylformamide in the presence of a 2,2'-bipyridine complex of hexakis(N,N-dimethylformamide)iron(III) perchlorate. The polymerization mechanism was thought to proceed through a reverse atom transfer radical polymerization. The molecular weights of resulting poly(stearyl methacrylate) increased with conversion, and the resulting molecular weight distributions were quite narrow. The rates of polymerization exhibited first-order kinetics with respect to the monomer. A probable reaction mechanism for the polymerization system is postulated to explain the observed results