Unprecedented Control over the Acrylate and Acrylamide Polymerization in Aqueous and Organic Media

Abstract

E-mail: D.M.Haddleton@warwick.ac.ukDuring recent years we have witnessed the rapid development and understanding of controlled radical polymerization (CRP) methods.The scope of copper-mediated living radical polymerization in particular, has paved the way for the synthesis of a new generation of synthetic precision materials. Several versatile, simple and inexpensive methods have been employed for the synthesis of sequence-controlled multiblock copolymers in a one-pot polymerization reaction at ambient temperature or below. Careful optimization of the reaction conditions allows for monomer sequence and the chain length to be varied upon demand, furnishing complex compositions in a matter of minutes/hours. Perhaps more importantly, these techniques can be utilized for the rapid synthesis of narrow dispersed diblock and triblock copolymers, which are routinely requested for various applications e.g. self-assembly. The potential and the limitations of these methods are presented and discussed.