Kinetic Investigation of the RAFT Polymerization of p-Acetoxystyrene

The kinetics of the RAFT polymerization of p-acetoxystyrene using a trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent, S-1-dodecyl-S-(alpha,alpha'-dimethyl-alpha ''-acetic acid)trithiocarbonate, DDMAT, was investigated Parameters including temperature, percentage initiator, concentration, monomer-to-chain transfer agent ratio, and solvent were varied and their impact on the rate of polymerization and quality of the final polymer examined Linear kinetic plots, linear increase of M-n with monomer conversion, and low final molecular weight dispersities were used as criteria for the selection of optimized polymerization conditions, which included a temperature of 70 or 80 degrees C with 10 mol % AIBN initiator in bulk for low conversions or in 1,4-dioxane at a monomer-to-solvent volume ratio of 1.1 for higher conversions This study opens the way for the use of DDMAT as a chain transfer agent for RAFT polymerization to incorporate p-acetoxystyrene together with other functional monomers into well-defined copolymers, block copolymers, and nanostructures. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc J Polym Sci Part A. Polym Chem 48 2517-2524, 2010