Nitroxide‐Mediated Radical Polymerization of N‐tert‐Butylacrylamide

Abstract

AbstractThe nitroxide‐mediated polymerization of N‐tert‐butylacrylamide (TBAM) in DMF at 120 °C using SG1/DEPN and AIBN has been investigated. Linear growth in number‐average molecular weight ($\overline M _{\rm n}$) versus conversion and narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs) with high livingness were obtained up to ≈8 000 g · mol−1. For higher molecular weights, the MWDs gradually became broader with low molecular weight tailing, and $\overline M _{\rm n}$ deviated downwards from theoretical values. Quantitative analyses of MWDs, along with specifically designed conventional radical polymerizations at 120 °C, were consistent with chain transfer to monomer limiting the attainable $\overline M _{\rm n}$. This finding can be equally applied to existing literature polymerizations of TBAM.magnified image