Kinetic investigation of the RAFT polymerization of p-acetoxystyrene

The kinetics of the RAFT polymerization of p-acetoxystyrene using a trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent, S-1-dodecyl-S'-(α,α'-dimethyl-α″-acetic acid)trithiocarbonate, DDMAT, was investigated. Parameters including temperature, percentage initiator, concentration, monomer-to-chain transfer agent ratio and solvent were varied and their impact on the rate of polymerization and quality of the final polymer examined. Linear kinetic plots, linear increase of M(n) with monomer conversion and low final molecular weight dispersities were used as criteria for the selection of optimized polymerization conditions, which included a temperature of 70 or 80 °C with 10 mol% AIBN initiator in bulk for low conversions or in 1,4-dioxane at a monomer-to-solvent volume ratio of 1:1 for higher conversions This study opens the way for the use of DDMAT as a chain transfer agent for RAFT polymerization to incorporate p-acetoxystyrene together with other functional monomers into well-defined copolymers, block copolymers and nanostructures.