A few amine based dithiocarbamate and dithioester reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agents were synthesized and utilized for the polymerization of a range of vinyl monomers to yield narrow disperse polymers. Kinetics of the polymerizations, end group fidelity and copolymerization behaviour by chain extension reactions were investigated. While cyclic amine based dithiocarbamate RAFT agents produced almost colorless poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) directly after the polymerization, the amine functionalized dithioester RAFT agent produced bright orange-yellow poly(styrene) (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with very low polydispersity index. Colorless PS and PMMA were obtained by simple post-polymerization treatments from yellow PS and PMMA respectively.

Colorless narrow disperse polymers using amine based RAFT agents without or with post-polymerization treatment

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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