Atom-transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate with ?,??-dichloroxylene/CuCl/N,N,N?,N?,N?-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine initiation system under microwave irradiation

Abstract

The atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA), using α,α′-dichloroxylene as initiator and CuCl/N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as catalyst was successfully carried out under microwave irradiation (MI). The polymerization of MMA under MI showed linear first-order rate plots, a linear increase of the number-average molecular weight with conversion, and low polydispersities, which indicated that the ATRP of MMA was controlled. Using the same experimental conditions, the apparent rate constant (k) under MI (k = 7.6 × 10−4 s−1) was higher than that under conventional heating (k = 5.3 × 10−5 s−1). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 2189–2195, 2004