RAFT polymerization of activated 4-vimyibemzoates

Abstract

The reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (BAFT) polymerization of five active ester monomers based on 4-vinylbenzoic acid had been investigated, Pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate could be polymerized under BAFT conditions yielding polymers with very good control over molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distributions. Following the synthesis of diblock copolymers consisting of polystyrene, polypentafluorostyrene, poly(4-octylstyrene), or poly(4-acetoxystyrene) as an inert block and poly(pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate) as a reactive block was successfully performed. The diblock copolymer poly(pentafluoro styrene)-block- poly(pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate) had been analyzed by 19F NMB spectroscopy in solution, demonstrating the synthetic potential of pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate as an extremely valuable monomer for the synthesis of highly functionalized polymeric architectures. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.