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Exploiting Addition-Fragmentation Reactions to Produce Low Dispersity Poly(isobornyl acrylate) and Blocky Copolymers
Nina Heidarzadeh1, Elizabeth G Bygott1, Robin A Hutchinson1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
Abstract:
Solution radical homopolymerization of isobornyl acrylate (iBoA) under starved-feed higher temperature conditions unexpectedly leads to polymer product with low dispersity (<1.3) compared to the polymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) under identical conditions. Both backbiting and β-scission reactions occur, as the poly(iBoA) product contains close to 100% terminal double bond (TDB) functionality. However, the addition of monomer to the midchain radicals formed by backbiting is sterically hindered, greatly reducing both short and long-chain branching. The poly(iBoA) macromonomer functions as an excellent addition-fragmentation agent, not only lowering dispersity but also providing a means to efficiently produce blocky acrylate copolymers through sequential monomer feeding in the starved-feed semibatch process.
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