PREPARATION OF HYPERBRANCHED POLYACRYLATES BY ATOM-TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION .3. EFFECT OF REACTION CONDITIONS ON THE SELF-CONDENSINGVINYL POLYMERIZATION OF 2-((2-BROMOPROPIONYL)OXY)ETHYL ACRYLATE

The homopolymerization of 2-(2-bromopropionyl)oxy)ethyl acrylate (BPEA ) by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a ''living''/control led radical polymerization system, has yielded a hyperbranched polymer . Variation of the reaction conditions and especially the concentratio n of copper(II) in the polymerization system affects not only the rate of polymerization but also the chain architecture. The copper(II) con centration in the polymerization medium is affected by solvent, the li gand used to complex copper, and temperature. The effects of temperatu re and ligand on the polymerization rate and the resulting chain archi tecture were studied.