Stereocontrol of Methyl Methacrylate during Photoinduced Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization in the Presence of Photosensitive Alkoxyamine

Abstract

Photosensitive alkoxyamine 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-(1-phenylethoxy)piperidin-4-yl quinoline-2-carboxylate (PE-TEMPO-Q) was synthesized. Photochemical properties of PE-TEMPO-Q were studied to develop photoinduced nitroxide-mediated polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA). Rapid and facile polymerization at ambient temperature with PE-TEMPO-Q as an initiator was confirmed to proceed in a controlled mechanism based on the linear growth in molecular weight combined with relative narrow polydispersity index (1.4–1.8) of the resulting polymers. The stereochemistry of obtained polymers was also investigated, and the syndiotacticity slightly increased compared with the typical photopolymerization. Dual-controlled photopolymerization of MMA was achieved in the presence of synthesized alkoxyamine.