Scope of the copper halide/bipyridyl system associated with calixarene-based multihalides for the synthesis of well-defined polystyrene and poly(meth)acrylate stars

Abstract

Novel multihalide compounds were used to initiate the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene, tert-butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate. The polymerization was restricted to low conversion to prevent stars from mutually coupling and to avoid their contamination. Overlapping concentration was found to play a significant role in the occurrence of star-star coupling. The functionality of the stars was checked by comparing their molar mass with that of their individual arms isolated after hydrolysis of the ester functions. The viscometric characterization attested to the well-defined character of the star polymers.