Fe(0) powder-catalyzed one-pot reaction: concurrent living radical polymerization and click chemistry for topological polymers

Fe(0) powder-catalyzed one-pot reaction was successfully employed to design linear and star polymers in a well-controlled manner by combining ambient temperature living radical polymerization and click chemistry. The polymerization behavior possessed the characteristics of “living”/controlled radical polymerization: the first-order kinetic plots, narrow molecular weight distribution (PDI < 1.4), the linear relationship between molecular weights and the monomer conversions and the successful chain-extension with a NIPAAM monomer. Furthermore, the NMR and MALDI-TOF-MS data indicated that the Fe(0)-catalyzed one-pot strategy is different from our reported Cu(0)-catalyzed one-pot strategies to make the targeted polymers.