Visible photo-induced catalyst-free polymerization via in situ prepared dibromide

In situ bromination of vinyl monomers with tetra-n-butyl ammonium tribromide and irradiation of the corresponding dibromide upon exposure to visible-LED (lambda = 400 nm) followed by C-Br bond photocleavage, successfully synthesis of polystyrene, polyacrylamide and the related random and block compolymers. GPC data revealed relatively low distributions in molecular weight for Dibmmide-synthesized homo/copolymers, comparable with data obtained for ATRP, photo-ATRP and metal-free photo-ATRP.

Automated summary

The in situ bromination of vinyl monomers followed by photocleavage of C-Br bond and irradiation with visible LED has successfully synthesized polymers with relatively low molecular weight distributions. The method shows comparable performance to other commonly used synthetic methods.