Iron-Mediated ICAR ATRP of Methyl Methacrylate

An iron (III) (FeCl3 center dot 6H(2)O) catalyst was found to be an active catalyst for initiators for continuous activator regeneration atom transfer radical polymerization (ICAR ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA), using triphenylphosphine (PPh3) as a ligand and azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as a thermal radical initiator, and 1,4-(2-bromo-2-methylpropionato)benzene (BMPB2) as an ATRP. initiator. Effects of reaction temperature, catalyst concentration and AIBN concentration on polymerization were investigated. These results showed that the catalyst was highly efficient for the ICAR ATRP of MMA. For example, even if the catalyst concentration decreased to 34 ppm, the polymerization with the molar ratio of [MMA](o)/[BMPB2](o)/[FeCl3 center dot 6H(2)O](o)/[PPh3](o)/[AIBN](o) = 500/1/0.03/1.5/0.1 could be carried out at 60 degrees C with a conversion 70.4% in 32 h. At the same time, the molecular weight of the obtained PMMA with a narrow molecular weight distribution (M-w/M-n = 1.37) was consistent with the theoretical one.