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High Temperature Initiator-Free RAFT Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate in a Microwave Reactor
Renzo M.
Paulus A B,
C. Remzi
Becer A B C,
Richard
Hoogenboom B C D,
Ulrich S.
Schubert A B C D
A
Laboratory of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany.
B
Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), PO Box 902, 5600 AX Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
C
Laboratory of Macromolecular Chemistry and Nanoscience, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
D
Corresponding authors. Email: r.hoogenboom@tue.nl; ulrich.schubert@uni-jena.de
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Australian Journal of Chemistry 62(3) 254–259 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CH09064
Submitted: 31 January 2009
Accepted: 27 February 2009
Published online: 20 March 2009
Abstract
The reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was investigated under microwave irradiation. At first, a comparison was made between microwave and thermal heating for the RAFT polymerization of MMA with azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator and 2-cyano-2-butyldithiobenzoate (CBDB) as RAFT agent, revealing comparable polymerization kinetics indicating the absence of non-thermal microwave effects. Second, the CBDB-mediated RAFT polymerization of MMA was investigated at high temperatures (120°C, 150°C, and 180°C, respectively) in the absence of a radical initiator, showing a linear increase of the molar masses with conversion. The polydispersity indices remained below 1.5 up to 25% MMA conversion at 120°C and 150°C, indicating a controlled polymerization. This control over the polymerization was confirmed by the ability to control the molar masses by the concentration of RAFT agent.
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