Ultrafast and green ionic liquid-mediated controlled cationic polymerization towards amphiphilic diblock copolymers

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) have gained lot of interest in recent years for use as solvents in organic transformation/polymerization reaction. However, gaining control over ambient temperature polymerization would expand the utility...

Recent advances in green cationic polymerization

“…Many researchers have made significant efforts in combining ionic liquids with cationic polymerization, which has been successfully applied to polymerize various monomers, such as styrene and its derivatives, 96,97,[99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106]108 vinyl ether, 107,109,110 isobutylene, 111,112 isoprene, 113 and the preparation of poly(styrene-b-isobutyl vinyl ether) block copolymers. 114 However, the field is still in its early stages. And it has been limited to examining the feasibility of monomer polymerization.…”

“…Although sCO 2 is often used as the solvent for various extractions and can be applied in free radical polymerization, its utilization in cationic polymerization has rarely been reported. 114,115,125 Kennedy reported the carbon cationic polymerization of IB in sCO 2 for the first time in 1994. He used TMPCL as the main initiator and TiCl 4 /SnCl 4 as co-initiator at a reaction temperature of 32.5 C and pressure of 120 bar.…”

“…This innovative approach finds extensive application across diverse domains, including coatings, adhesives, cosmetics, and beyond. Although sCO 2 is often used as the solvent for various extractions and can be applied in free radical polymerization, its utilization in cationic polymerization has rarely been reported 114,115,125 …”

RAFT polymerization of an aromatic organoborane for block copolymer synthesis

“…25 Sequential cationic polymerization of St and a vinyl ether, followed by ether deprotection, avoids VAc. 26 We considered if an alternative monomer to VAc might not only access PS-b-PVA, but also in the long-term enable new opportunities (Scheme 1). In prior work, we reported the aromatic organoborane BN2VN as an alternative to VAc for the synthesis of VA (co)polymers by either free radical [27][28][29][30][31] or coordination polymerization.…”

“…25 Sequential cationic polymerization of St and a vinyl ether, followed by ether deprotection, avoids VAc. 26…”