Click chemistry meets polymerization: Controlled incorporation of an easily accessible ruthenium(II) complex into a PMMA backbone via RAFT copolymerization

The copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition provided an easy and efficient access to a functionalized heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complex monomer. A grafted copolymer with the heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complex and methyl methacrylate (MMA) as comonomer was synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The product was characterized by means of H-1 NMR spectroscopy, UV/vis spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector. The RAFT process itself led to a grafted copolymer with a low polydispersity index. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.