Reversible-deactivation radical polymerization mediated by CuSO4•5H2O: an alternative and promising copper(II)-based catalyst

This work demonstrated a successful example of RDRP with CuSO4 center dot 5H(2)O as a Cu(II) based catalyst in the presence of a reducing agent. CuSO4 center dot 5H(2)O produced a more controllable polymerization compared with the widely used CuBr2. The mechanism was revealed to be a Cu(0)-mediated RDRP with the in situ generated Cu(0) from CuSO4 center dot 5H(2)O as the catalyst. This work may provide an alternative, economical and promising copper(II)-based RDRP catalyst, which would eventually enrich and benefit the RDRP technique.