Microstructured reactors for polymer synthesis: A renaissance of continuous flow processes for tailor-made macromolecules?

Abstract

Organic synthesis in microfluidic devices has attracted inceasing interest in recent years. However, little efforts had been undertaken to exploit this novel technology for polymer chemistry until several recent studies demonstrated the interesting potential of microreactors for the synthesis and modification of polymers. In fact, anonic polymeriztions in continuous capillary flow-tube systems were established already in 1962 in pioneering work by Szwarc. Subsequent work focused on detailed kinetic analyses in such reactors. the present article explores different current strateges devewloped by several research groups to realize bulk and solution polymeriztions using continuous flow microreactors. Inherent benefits and limtations of these systems compared to traditonal laboratory set ups are discussed. We present a variety of recent pioneering and advanced opproaches to realize free radical, controlled radical, cationic and anionic polymerizations in microtechnological reaction devices. In some cases, surprisingly nanow molecular weight distributions have been obtained, demonstrating the promising potential of this approach for tne tailoring of polymer structures. © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.