ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Cu-based atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate using a novel tridentate ligand with mixed donor atoms

Fatemeh Saghatchi, Ebrahim Ahmadi, Zahra Mohamadnia, Hassan Hajifatheali, Hashem Tabebordbar, and Farnoosh Karimi

Department of Chemistry, University of Zanjan, P.O. Box 45195-313, Zanjan, Iran

E-mail: ahmadi@znu.ac.ir

Abstract: This study is aimed at atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using a novel catalyst. The bis-(2-dodecylsulfanyl-ethyl)-amine (SNS) tridentate ligand with mixed donor atoms was synthesized in high purity using inexpensive reagents and was reacted with copper(I) bromide to produce the CuBr/SNS catalyst. The catalyst mediated living polymerization of MMA yielding polymers with controlled molecular masses and narrow molecular mass distributions (PDI < 1.25). Also, the kinetic plot exhibited a linear increase of ln([M]₀/[M]) versus time, indicating constant concentration of propagating radicals during the polymerization. The products were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FT-IR, UV-VIS, GC and elemental analyses (CHNS) and by GPC.

Keywords: atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) – living polymerization – methyl metacrylate – SNS ligand – catalyst

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-014-0613-z

Chemical Papers 68 (11) 1555–1560 (2014)