Controlled sequential radical copolymerization of styrene and butyl methacrylate

The application of atom transfer radical polymerization for the synthesis o f controlled block copolymer of styrene and butyl methacrylate was discribe d in this paper, For instance, butylmethacrylate was first polymerized by u sing 1-PEC1, CuC1 and bipyridine in a molar ratio of : 1 : 2 at 120 degrees C for 2 h, the bulk polymerization proceeded to about 96% conversion, When styrene was subsequently added to the controlled polybutyl methacrylate sy nthesized as described above and polymerized at the same temperature for 5 h, the block copolymers of BMA and S with predicted molecular weight (1 X 1 0(4)similar to 4 X 10(4)) and narrower molecular weight distribution (1.1 s imilar to 1.5) were obtained. When the first monomer was changed to styrene , it needed more time to get high conversion.