Synthesis of well-defined 3-arm and 6-arm poly(acrylic acid)s via ATRP of methyl acrylate and hydrolyses of 3-arm and 6-arm poly(methyl acrylate)s

Abstract

Three-arm and 6-arm poly(methyl acrylate)s (PMAs) were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with 1,3,5-tris(bromomethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene and hexakis(bromomethyl)benzene as the initiators, CuBr as the catalyst and tris [2-(dimethylamino) ethyl] amine (Me6TREN) as the ligand. The effect of the molar ratio of CuBr and Me6TREN to Br of the initiator on the arm number was investigated. Hydrolysis of the products was conducted to convert the PMAs to poly(acrylic acid)s (PAAs). The solubility to water and thermal decomposition curves of 3-arm and 6-arm PAAs corresponded well to those of PAA.