A novel thermal iniferter for radical polymerization

A novel thermal iniferter, 1-hydroxy-2-(p-tolylaminocarbonyloxyl)-1,1,2,2-t etraphenylethane (HTTPE), was prepared from 1,1,2,2-tetraphenyl-1,2-ethaned iol (TPED) and p-tolyl isocyanate. The thermal iniferter is a complex of HT TPE with acetone, designated as HTTPE.Acetone. Characterization of HTTPE.Ac etone was performed by FTIR, H-1-NMR and elemental analysis. The melting po int of the complex is 98-99.5 degrees C. The polymerization of methyl metha crylate (MMA) with HTTPE.Acetone can be carried out in bulk or in DMF solut ion at 70 and 80 degrees C, and the polymerization proceeds by a "living" p olymerization mechanism. The resultant polymer can reinitiate a second mono mer, n-butyl methacrylate, (nBMA), to form a PMMA-b-PnBMA block copolymer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.