Parallel Synthesis of Polymer Libraries Using Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP)

摘要

Parallel atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene and t-butyl acrylate (t-BA) was investigated. A series of ATRP polymerizations were carried out in parallel with varying targeted molecular weight ((M) over bar (n)) and showed excellent reproducibility of (M) over bar (n) polydispersity, and conversion. In addition, polymerizations were done to determine the effect of inhibitor on styrene polymerization, yielding similar results. In synthesizing a library of polymers having varying (M) over bar (n) using ATRP, polymers having lower (M) over bar (n) reach their target values earlier and the others continue to react under heating, resulting in peak broadening for the low (M) over bar (n) polymers. Reinitiation experiments indicated that termination reactions were taking place resulting in "dead" polymer chains which were unable to reinitiate polymerization.