The reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was carried out utilizing an alkyl iodide
in situ
formed as initiator and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) or
N
N
′-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) as highly efficient organic catalysts for the first time. Firstly
the catalytic activity of the two catalysts was demonstrated and compared. The control of the polymerization by DCC was better than that by DIC under the same experimental conditions. Then the influence of the amount of catalyst DCC
the amount of traditional initiators and the type of solvents on the polymerization was investigated in detail. The results show that the addition of DCC or DIC catalyst can effectively reduce the polydispersity index (PDI =
M
w
/
M
n
)
as compared with the reverse iodine chain transfer polymerization (RITP). The catalytic performance is excellent with the ratio of [MMA]
0
:[I
2
]
0
:[ABVN]
0
:[DCC]
0
= 200:1:1.7:4. The measured molecular weight by GPC is consistent with the theoretical molecular weight
and the molecular weight increases linearly with the increase in conversion rate. The molecular weight polydispersity index is small (PDI
<
1.26). The polymerizations of MMA in different solvents were carried out. The induction period is shortened and the polymerization rate is increased with the increase of catalyst or initiator amount. The polymerizations have good control effect in toluene
benzene
tetrahydrofuran (THF)
anisole. The structure and the iodine-end-capped structure of the obtained PMMA was demonstrated by
1
H-NMR spectrum. The calculated
M
n
NMR
was in good agreement with
M
n
GPC
and the fraction of iodine chain end of the PMMA chains was up to 97.5%
and the iodine terminus could be efficiently reactivated for chain extension. Last
the mechanism of the polymerization mediated by carbodiimide is discussed based on free radical trapping experiments and ultraviolet absorption. The high conversion of CP-I to CPo radical catalyzed by DIC and the complexation peak of I
2
/carbodiimide detected by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy demonstrate that the polymerization catalyzed by carbodiimide proceeds according to the reversible complexation mediated polymerization mechanism.
关键词
甲基丙烯酸甲酯二环己基碳二亚胺NN′-二异丙基碳二亚胺可逆-失活自由基聚合反向碘转移聚合
Keywords
Methyl methacrylateDicyclohexylcarbodiimideNN′-diisopropylcarbodiimideReversible-deactivation radical polymerizationReverse chain transfer polymerization
references
Jenkins D, Jones R G, Moad G . Pure Appl Chem , 2010 . 82 ( 5 ): 483 - 491.