Proton Transfer Anionic Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with Ligands for Dual Control of Molecular Weight and Tacticity.

Dual control of the molecular weight and tacticity in proton transfer anionic polymerization (PTAP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was investigated by using various ligands in the presence of a bulky potassium base catalyst and an organic compound with a weakly acidic C-H bond as dormant species in toluene at 0 °C. The tacticity of the resulting poly(MMA) (PMMA) produced without ligands was nearly atactic (// = 22/54/24). However, the use of 18-crown-6 as a ligand afforded predominantly syndiotactic PMMA ( ≈ 58%), whereas the use of chiral bis(oxazoline) ligands gave slightly isotactic-rich PMMA ( ≈ 32%).

Proton transfer anionic polymerization with C-H bond as the dormant species.

Living anionic polymerization-the most common living polymerization and the one with the longest history-generally requires stringent, water-free conditions and one metal initiator per polymer chain. Here we present the proton transfer anionic polymerization of methacrylates using acidic C-H bonds as the dormant species that are activated by base catalysts. The polymerization mechanism involves reversible chain transfer or termination of the growing enolate species.