N-(2-hydroxy propyl) methacrylamide (HPMAm) was purchased from Zentiva, Czech Republic. N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide dilactate (HPMAm-Lac2) was synthesized as described previously. 1 4-cyano-4-[(dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl)sulfanyl]pentanoic acid (CDTPA), 4-cyanopentanoic acid dithiobenzoate (CPAD), dimethylacetamide (DMAc), azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (ABCPA), and 2,2'-Azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN, recrystallized from methanol twice before using) were ordered from Sigma. Diethyl ether, methanol and N,Ndimethylformamide (DMF) were supplied by Biosolve Ltd (Valkenswaard, the Netherlands) and dried over 0.4 nm molecular sieves before using. Paclitaxel (PTX) was purchased from LC Laboratories (MA, USA).

In the reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) mediated polymerization of methyl acrylate, a selective reaction is observed in the early stages of the polymerization. This initialization process was earlier observed in in situ 1H NMR spectroscopy experiments where extremely low target molar masses were chosen (around DP = 5). Here, for the first time, the presence of the initialization process is identified as the cause of an induction period under typical conditions of a RAFT‐mediated polymerization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2500–2509, 2008

The living radical alternating copolymerization of styrene and maleic anhydride mediated by the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization process has been studied at short chain lengths using two different dithiobenzoate RAFT agents. The results indicate specificity of addition of the RAFT-agent leaving groups for either styrene or maleic anhydride. The addition rate of the monomers and the fact that monomers are added individually favour the penultimate unit model of polymer propagation.

An important category of self-healing materials relies on the release of a healing agent from a capsule upon the occurrence of damage to the material. Visualization of the release of the healing agent is difficult to accomplish. Here we show that a profluorophore can successfully be used to visualize the local release of a healing agent in a self-healing coating. A tetra-functional thiol compound encapsulated in nanocapsules or microcapsules is dispersed in a poly(methyl acrylate) film, in which the profluorophore is molecularly dispersed. A strong fluorescence signal is observed when a cut is introduced in the film. This fluorescence provides clear evidence that the capsules rupture locally during the introduction of a cut. In a more general sense, it proves that profluorophores can be very useful in materials science.

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