Dm. Haddleton et al., SYNTHESIS OF HOMOPOLYMERS AND BLOCK-COPOLYMERS OF METHACRYLATES USINGA MIXED AL LI ALKYL INITIATOR/, Macromolecular symposia, 91, 1995, pp. 93-105
We report the use of a triisobutylaluminium/tert-butyllithium initiato
r in the preparation of living methacrylate homopoloymers and a wide r
ange of methacrylic block copolymers. The system, which we have referr
ed to as Screened Anionic Polymerisation (SAP), is very tolerant of im
purities and is effective in hydrocarbon solution with reaction rates
such that high molecular weight polymers can be produced at temperatur
es readily accessible for large scale industrial use. A mechanism for
the reaction is proposed based on preliminary spectroscopic evidence.