Recent progress in controlled radical polymerization of N-vinyl monomers

This review summarizes recent advances in the controlled radical polymerization of N-vinyl monomers, such as N-vinylcarbazole, N-vinylindole derivatives, N-vinylpyrrolidone, N-vinylcaprolactam, N-vinylformamide, N-vinylacetoamide derivatives, N-vinyl(na)phthalimides, N-vinylimidazolium salts, and N-vinyltriazoles. Recent significant progress of controlled radical polymerization of these N-vinyl monomers has allowed for the synthesis of well-defined functional polymers having various architectures, including block copolymers, branched polymers (stars, star block copolymers, miktoarm star copolymers, and graft copolymers), and hybrids. Characteristic properties, assembled structures, and three-dimensional architectures of these functional polymers derived from N-vinyl monomers are briefly introduced. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.