Poly(styrene-<i>co</i>-maleic anhydride) (SMA) is well known as an example of a copolymer that preferentially adopts an alternating comonomer sequence. In order to synthesize non-alternating SMA, the copolymerization is typically conducted in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). This strategy is less suitable for SMA synthesized via reversible deactivation radical polymerization, due to the inherent residence time distribution in a CSTR. In an attempt to synthesize non-alternating and sequence-controlled SMA via RAFT-mediated polymerization, we experienced a remarkable dependency of the polymerization behavior on the nature of the RAFT agent. Despite the use of RAFT agents that readily control the alternating copolymerization of STY and MAnh, we discovered vastly different performances in the synthesis of a 2:1 poly(STY-STY-MAnh) sequence controlled polymer.

Sequence-controlled poly(styrene-<i>co</i>-maleic anhydride) via RAFT-mediated polymerization

254th National Meeting (2017)

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Sequence-controlled poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) via RAFT-mediated polymerization