Radical polymerization of styrene by a hexa-substituted-ethane type thermal iniferter

The bulk polymerization of styrene (St) initiated with a hexa-substituted-e thane type initiator, diethyl 2,3-dicyano-2,3-diphenylsuccinate (DCDPS), wa s investigated. It was found that DCDPS served as a thermal iniferter for p olymerization of St and the polymerization had some characteristics in comm on with living radical polymerization, ie, both the yield and the molecular weight of the resulting polymers increased with increasing reaction time. The resultant polystyrene can act as a macroinitiator for chain-extension p olymerization of St or for radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate to give a block copolymer. (C) 2001 Society of Chemical Industry.