Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Precise Synthesis of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Fluoropolymers Enabled by Chain-Transfer-Agent Differentiation under
Honghong Gong1, Yu Gu1, Yucheng Zhao1
1State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
Abstract:
Ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMW) polymers display outstanding properties and hold potential for wide applications. However, their precise synthesis remains challenging. Herein, we developed a novel reversible-deactivation radical polymerization based on the strong and selective fluorine-fluorine interaction, allowing chain-transfer agents to spontaneously differentiate into two groups that take charge of the chain growth and reversible deactivation of the growing chains, respectively. This method enables dramatically improved livingness of propagation, providing UHMW polymers with a surprisingly narrow molecular weight distribution (Đ≈1.1) from a variety of fluorinated (meth)acrylates and acrylamide at quantitative conversions under visible-light irradiation. In situ chain-end extensions from UHMW polymers facilitated the synthesis of well-defined block copolymers, revealing the excellent chain-end fidelity achieved by this method.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Ziegler–Natta Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching
Molecular Weight of Step-Growth Polymers
As the step-growth polymerization involves step-wise condensation of monomers, the molecular weight also builds up eventually. Consequently, high molecular weight polymers are obtained at the late stages of the polymerization, where 99% of monomers have been consumed.
The extent of the...

