Phosphorus Ligands for Iron(III)-Mediated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate

✍ Scribed by Zhigang Xue; Hyun Sook Oh; Seok Kyun Noh; Won Seok Lyoo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 266 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1336
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.200800500

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The iron(III)‐catalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was successfully employed using tributylphosphine (TBP) and trimethylphosphite (TMP) as ligands in the absence of a reducing agent. The effects of solvent and initiator on polymerization of MMA were investigated. Most of the polymerizations with these ligands were well controlled with a linear increase in the number average molecular weights ($\overline M _{\rm n}$) versus conversion and relatively low molecular weight distribution ($\overline M _{\rm w} /\overline M _{\rm n}$ = 1.2–1.4) throughout the reactions, and the measured weights matched with the predicted values. The ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBriB) initiated ATRP of MMA with the FeBr~3~/TBP or FeBr~3~/TMP catalytic system was better controlled in toluene than in the other solvents used in this study at 80 °C.

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