Reversible complexation mediated polymerization (RCMP)–solution polymerization of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by Bu4N+I− (BNI) with in-situ formed alkyl iodide initiator

The reversible complexation mediated polymerization (RCMP) of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by tetrabutylammonium iodide (BNI) was performed in toluene with an alkyl iodide initiator in situ formed. The influence of BNI amount, polymerization temperature, solvent, and initiator on the polymerization was studied. Results showed that the more organic catalyst, higher reaction temperature, highly polar solvent, and higher activity initiator led to shorter inhibition period and faster polymerization. More importantly, the mechanism for the shorter inhibition period and faster polymerization with BNI was proposed: Poly(methyl methacrylate) with predetermined molar mass and relatively low Mw/Mn (determined by size exclusion chromatography, SEC) was successfully synthesized. Furthermore, the structure of resulting polymers was characterized using 1H NMR The living/controlled feature of the polymers was further demonstrated by the chain extension experiment. Attractive features of this procedure include commercially available catalyst, ease of operation, and efficiency.