dl‐Methionine‐Mediated Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization of Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate

Abstract

AbstractReversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) is a facile and highly efficient technique for the synthesis of well‐defined polymer with precise structure. dl‐Methionine (Met) as a RDRP control agent is described and assessed for RDRP of styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) with AIBN as radical initiator at 75 °C, which enables excellent control of this polymerization. The addition of dl‐Methionine significantly decreased the dispersity (Đ) of the polymers for both monomers and first‐order linear kinetic plots of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) are observed in DMSO. Considering the heat resistance of dl‐Methionine, kinetic studies indicate that polymerization develops at a faster rate at higher reaction temperature (100 °C) with the same dl‐Methionine content. Well‐defined polymethyl methacrylate‐block‐polystyrene (PMMA‐block‐PSt) is successfully achieved by the chain extension reaction that demonstrates the high end fidelities of this polymerization approach. The system allows the use of dl‐Methionine, a rich source and easily synthesized agent, to mediate RDRP strategy.