Synthesis of heat-resistant copolymers by atom transfer radical polymerization

Atom transfer radical copolymerization (ATRP) of styrene (St) and N-cyclohe xylmaleimide (NCMI) with the CuBr/bpy catalyst in anisole, initiated by 1-p henylethyl bromide (1-PEBr) or tetra-(bromomethyl) benzene (TBMB), afforded well-defined copolymer with predetermined molecular weights and low polydi spersities, M-w/M-n<1. 5. Other monomer pairs such as methyl methacrylate(M MA)/ NCMI, St/N-phenylmaleimide, MMA/N-phenylmaleimide were studied, too. T he influences of several factors, such as temperature, solvent and monomer' s ratio on the copolymerization with the CuBr/bpy catalyst system were subs equently investigated. The apparent activation energy of St(MMA)and NCMI wa s deduced from the kinetics figure of different temperatures. Using TBMB as the initiator produced four-armed star copolymer. The heat resistance of t he resultant copolymer has been improved by increasing the NCMI.