"Living" radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate with diethyl 2,3-dicyano-2,3-diphenylsuccinate as a thermal iniferter

The bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) initiated with diethyl 2,3-dicyano-2,3-diphenylsuccinate (DCDPS) was studied. This polymerization showed some "living" characteristics; that is, bath the yield and the mole cular weight of the resulting polymers increased with reaction time, and th e resultant polymer can be extended by adding MMA. The molecular weight dis tribution of PMMA obtained at high conversion is fairly narrow (M-w/M-n = 1 .24 approximate to 1.34). It was confirmed that DCDPS can serve as a therma l iniferter for MMA polymerization by a "living" radical mechanism. Further more, the PMMA obtained can act as a macroinitiator for radical polymerizat ion of styrene (St) to give a block copolymer. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.