skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Radical–radical coupling effects in the direct-growth grafting-through synthesis of bottlebrush polymers using RAFT and ROMP
Title: Radical–radical coupling effects in the direct-growth grafting-through synthesis of bottlebrush polymers using RAFT and ROMP
The direct-growth technique was used to synthesize several macromonomers (MMs) employing reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization by growing directly from a norbornene-functionalized chain transfer agent (CTA). We aimed to investigate the formation of bisnorbornenyl species resulting from radical termination by combination ( i.e. , coupling) during RAFT polymerization at different monomer conversion values in four types of monomers: styrene, tert -butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and N -acryloyl morpholine. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of these MMs using Grubbs' 3rd generation catalyst (G3) at an MM : G3 ratio of 100 : 1 resulted in the formation of bottlebrush polymers. Analysis by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) revealed high molar mass shoulders of varying intensities attributed to the incorporation of these bisnorbornenyl species to generate dimeric or higher-order bottlebrush polymer oligomers. The monomer type in the RAFT step heavily influenced the amount of these bottlebrush polymer dimers and oligomers, as did the monomer conversion value in the RAFT step: We found that the ROMP of polystyrene MMs with a target backbone degree of polymerization of 100 produced detectable coupling at ≥20% monomer conversion in the RAFT step, while it took ≥80% monomer conversion to observe coupling in the poly( tert -butyl acrylate) MMs. We did not detect coupling in the poly(methyl methacrylate) MMs, but broadening of the SEC peaks and an increase in dispersity occurred, suggesting the presence of metathesis-active alkene-containing chain ends created by disproportionation. Finally, poly( N -acryloyl morpholine) MMs, even when reaching 90% monomer conversion in the RAFT step, showed no detectable coupling in the bottlebrush polymers. These results highlight the importance of monomer choice and RAFT polymerization conditions in making MMs for ROMP grafting-through to make well-defined bottlebrush polymers.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2104602
PAR ID:
10420123
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Polymer Chemistry
Volume:
13
Issue:
41
ISSN:
1759-9954
Page Range / eLocation ID:
5841 to 5851
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; (, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics)
    Abstract Cationic bottlebrush homopolymers are polymerized using a grafting‐through approach by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to afford well‐defined polymers. Quaternary ammonium macromonomers (MMs) are prepared by quaternizing tertiary amine MMs synthesized by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The quaternary ammonium MMs undergo ROMP to target molecular weights (Mn= 30 000–100 000 g mol−1) and a low dispersity (Đ= 1.10–1.30). Halide‐ligand exchange between the third generation Grubbs catalyst (G3) and halide counter ions (bromide and iodide ions) of MMs changes the catalyst activity throughout ROMP, causing it to deviate from pseudo‐first order kinetic behavior; however, the polymerization still follows controlled behavior without significant catalyst termination. Increasing steric bulk of the MMs decreases the polymerization rate as well. Amphiphilic block copolymers are synthesized by sequential polymerization of quaternary ammonium MMs and polystyrene (PS) MMs. Using a PS macroinitiator affords block copolymers with lowerĐvalues as compared to the less active cationic macroinitiator. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Macromolecules)
    Developments in nanomolecular engineering in the last 20 years have led to the development of technology that uses ultrasonic irradiation in initiating the polymerization process for wider industrial and commercial applications. In this experimental study, ultrasound-assisted reversible addition chain-transfer (Sono-RAFT) polymerization was used to differentiate the effects of the bulk and continuous flow polymerization methods on three parameters─monomer conversion, polymer molar mass, and dispersity─using 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, N-acryloyl morpholine, and N-dimethylacetamide as monomer substrates. Experimental results indicate that continuous flow polymerization demonstrated higher monomer conversion than polymerizations performed in batch under identical experimental conditions. Furthermore, the increased surface-to-volume ratio inherent to continuous flow reactors enabled Sono-RAFT at a higher monomer concentration than analogous batch reactions due to the higher cavitational intensity accessible in tubular microreactors. The key to continuous flow Sono-RAFT was the observation that stainless-steel microreactors result in increased cavitational intensity and decreased oxygen contamination compared to PFA tubing. We envision that these findings will further advance the field of mechanochemistry in polymer science and provide an approach to make sonochemically regulated polymerization more practical and sustainable. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)
    Abstract An orthogonal combination of cationic and radical RAFT polymerizations is used to synthesize bottlebrush polymers using two distinct RAFT agents. Selective consumption of the first RAFT agent is used to control the cationic RAFT polymerization of a vinyl ether monomer bearing a secondary dormant RAFT agent, which subsequently allows side‐chain polymers to be grafted from the pendant RAFT agent by a radical‐mediated RAFT polymerization of a different monomer, thus completing the synthesis of bottlebrush polymers. The high efficiency and selectivity of the cationic and radical RAFT polymerizations allow both polymerizations to be conducted in one‐pot tandem without intermediate purification. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; (, Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry)
    ABSTRACT Electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerizations (ATRPs) provide well‐defined polymers with designed dispersity as well as under external temporal and spatial control. In this study, 1‐cyano‐1‐methylethyl diethyldithiocarbamate, typically used as chain‐transfer agent (CTA) in reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, was electrochemically activated by the ATRP catalyst CuI/2,2′‐bipyridine (bpy) to control the polymerization of methyl methacrylate. Mechanistic study showed that this polymerization was mainly controlled by the ATRP equilibrium. The effect of applied potential, catalyst counterion, catalyst concentration, and targeted degree of polymerization were investigated. The chain‐end functionality was preserved as demonstrated by chain extension of poly(methyl methacrylate) withn‐butyl methacrylate and styrene. This electrochemical ATRP procedure confirms that RAFT CTAs can be activated by an electrochemical stimulus. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem.2019,57, 376–381 
    more » « less
  5. ; (, Macromolecular Rapid Communications)
    Abstract Halogen exchange in atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is an efficient way to chain‐extend from a less active macroinitiator (MI) to a more active monomer. This has been previously achieved by using CuCl/L in the equimolar amount to Pn−Br MI in the chain extension step. However, this approach cannot be effectively applied in systems based on regeneration of activators (ARGET ATRP), since they operate with ppm amounts of catalysts. Herein, a catalytic halogen exchange procedure is reported using a catalytic amount of Cu in miniemulsion ARGET ATRP to chain‐extend from a less active poly(n‐butyl acrylate) (PBA) MI to a more active methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer. Influence of different reagents on the initiation efficiency and dispersity is studied. Addition of 0.1mNaCl or tetraethylammonium chloride to ATRP of MMA initiated by methyl 2‐bromopropionate leads to high initiation efficiency and polymers with low dispersity. The optimized conditions are then employed in chain extension of PBA MI with MMA to prepare diblock and triblock copolymers. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email