Reverse Iodine Transfer Polymerization (RITP) in Emulsion

Abstract

Reverse iodine transfer polymerization (RITP) is a new controlled radical polymerization technique based on the use of molecular iodine I2 as control agent. This paper aims at presenting the basics of RITP and the strategy that we have followed for the development of this process in the past three years, from the validation in homogeneous solution polymerization up to recent results in heterogeneous aqueous polymerization processes. Typical examples of RITP of butyl acrylate in emulsion and RITP of styrene in miniemulsion are discussed.

Synthesis of diblock and triblock copolymers from butyl acrylate and styrene by reverse iodine transfer polymerization

“…Equally important, the I 2 (or a precursor such as NaI 11,12 ) is low cost when compared with thiocarbonyl derivatives, organometallic complexes, or nitroxide derivatives. Moreover, controlled polymerization of styrene and (meth)acrylic monomers has been carried out successfully by RITP in homogeneous 8,9,13 and heterogeneous 14,15 systems demonstrating the versatility of the process. The growing interest to synthesize poly(styrene)-poly(acrylate) block copolymers is due to their potential use as impact modifiers and/or as thermoplastic elastomers.…”

“…The most well-known CRP techniques are nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP), 4 atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), 5 reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), 6 and iodine transfer polymerization (ITP). 7 A new CRP technique, called reverse iodine transfer polymerization (RITP), that relies on the use of molecular iodine (I 2 ) was recently developed, 8,9 and patented 10 by LacroixDesmazes et al (Scheme 1).…”

Synthesis and Characterization of PDMS Based Triblock and Pentablock Copolymers

“…PVAc and PSt segments exhibited T g values of 40 and 105°C [9,12,13], respectively for the The linear fit indicated that the concentration of propagating radical species is constant and radical termination reactions are not significant over time scale of the reaction. It was found that the molecular weights increase almost linearly with conversion, indicating that the number of chains was constant and the chain transfer reactions were rather negligible [16][17][18]. Thus from Fig.…”

Aqueous reverse iodine transfer polymerization of acrylic acid

“…The rapid production of this key intermediate is essential for mediating polymer growth via a degenerative transfer mechanism. Indeed, the inherent simplicity of this process and previous industrial patents utilizing RITP for styrenic polymers further motivated the extension of RITP for the aqueous preparation of PAA.…”