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Updated: Jan 26, 2026
Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Functionalized Vinyl Monomers Using Perylene as a Visible Light Photocatalyst
Published on: April 22, 2016
Characteristics and Mechanism of Vinyl Ether Cationic Polymerization in Aqueous Media Initiated by
Jinghan Zhang1,2, Yibo Wu3,4, Kaixuan Chen5
1College of Material Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. zhangjinghan0517@163.com.
Abstract:
Aqueous cationic polymerizations of vinyl ethers (isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE), 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether (CEVE), and n-butyl vinyl ether (n-BVE)) were performed for the first time by a CumOH/B(C₆F₅)₃/Et₂O initiating system in an air atmosphere. The polymerization proceeded in a reproducible manner through the careful design of experimental conditions (adding initiator, co-solvents, and surfactant or decreasing the reaction temperature), and the polymerization characteristics were systematically tested and compared in the suspension and emulsion. The significant difference with traditional cationic polymerization is that the polymerization rate in aqueous media using B(C₆F₅)₃/Et₂O as a co-initiator decreases when the temperature is lowered. The polymerization sites are located on the monomer/water surface. Density functional theory (DFT) was applied to investigate the competition between H₂O and alcohol combined with B(C₆F₅)₃ for providing a theoretical basis. The effectiveness of the proposed mechanism for the aqueous cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers using CumOH/B(C₆F₅)₃/Et₂O was confirmed.
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