Ultrafast preparation of branched poly(methyl Acrylate) through single electron transfer living radical polymerization at room temperature

Abstract

Ultrafast preparation of branched poly(methyl acrylate) (BPMA) with high‐molecular weight through single electron transfer living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) of inimer at 25°C has been attempted, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) at 60°C was also carried out for comparison. Gas chromatography, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, and triple detection size exclusion chromatography were used to analyze these polymerizations. As expected, SET‐LRP system showed much faster polymerization rate than ATRP system, the calculated apparent propagation rate constants (kpapp) are 3.69 × 10−2 min−1 and 6.23 × 10−3 min−1 for SET‐LRP and ATRP system, respectively. BPMA with high‐molecular weight (Mw.MALLS = 86,400 g mol−1) compared with that in ATRP (Mw.MALLS = 61,400 g mol−1) has been prepared. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1579–1584, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers