Abstract

Synthesis Of Furan End-Capped Poly (MethylMethacrylate)sViaAtom Transfer Radical Polymerization With Two Different Initiators

Author(s): B.Filiz Senkal, Zulfiye Ilter, M.Fatih Coskun, Kadir Demirelli, Idris Cakmak

The synthesis of benzofuran and naphtafuran end-capped poly(methyl methacrylate)s via atomtransfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is reported. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was polymerized in bulk at different temperatures (90oC, 100oC and 110oC) viaATRP using a newbenzofuran and naphtafuran initiators (2-acetyl bromine benzofuran and 2-acetyl bromine naphtafuran) in the presence of CuBr/2,2Â’-bipyridine (bpy) as the catalyst. With this new initiating systems, a successful ATRP of MMA was carried out, and benzofuran and naphtafuran end-capped polymers with predetermined molecular weights and polydispersities were obtained at desired polymerization temperature. The linear proportionality of themolecular weights to the conversions and straight lines observed in ln (Mo/M) (where Mo and M are the monomer contents at the beginning and any time, respectively) versus time plots indicate typical controlled polymerization characteristics. Poly(methylmethacrylate)s as amacroinitiator were used to synthesize the poly(MMA-b-St) block copolymer, which allowed a demonstration of its living character.