Combined nitroxide mediated radical polymerization techniques for block copolymer synthesis

Nitroxide mediated radical polymerization (NMP) is one of the most powerful method for advanced polymer synthesis. However, NMP suffers from some limitations, in particular to mediate the polymerization of unconjugated monomers or to conduct the polymerization of conjugated monomers under low temperatures. The combination of NMP with other reversible-deactivation radical polymerization techniques, such as reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) or organometallic mediated radical polymerization (OMRP), offered new possibilities in macromolecular engineering. In this contribution we report different strategies of 'combined NMP', i.e., the exchange of the polymer chain-end controlling agents for sequenced polymerization or the introduction of different polymerization-initiating sites onto alkoxyamines or polymers. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.