Synthesis of acrylate-1-hexene based functional polyolefin using activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP)

The copolymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) with 1-hexene was carried out using activator regenerator by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) employing Cu(0)/CuBr2 as a catalyst, pentamethyl diethylenetriamine (PM DETA) as a ligand, and ethyl 2-bromoisopropionate (EBriP) as the initiator, all at a reaction temperature of 70°C. This process resulted in the production of viscous and transparent copolymers, namely poly (methyl acrylate-co-1-hexene) or PMH and poly (glycidyl methacrylate-co- 1-hexene) or PGMH. For the MA/1-Hex copolymer, conversion rates ranged from a maximum of 31 wt% to a minimum of 12 wt%, while the GMA/1-hexene copolymer exhibited conversion rates ranging from a maximum of 42 wt% to a minimum of 12 wt%. It was observed that increasing the amount of 1-hexene during the synthesis led to a higher incorporation of 1-hexene content in both the MA and GMA polymer backbones, with a maximum of 15 wt% and 18 wt% of 1-hexene being incorporated into PMH and PGMH, respectively. The incorporation of 1-hexene was confirmed through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) studies, including 1H, 13C, and DEPT 135 studies. Additionally, the copolymer PMH and PGMH exhibited monomodal molecular weight distribution curves when evaluated using the size exclusion chromatography (SEC) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique, with polydispersity values in the range of 1.19-1.37 and 1.07-1.11, respectively. These findings indicate that the copolymerization process was well-controlled and followed a radical polymerization mechanism.

Synthesis of acrylate-1-hexene based functional polyolefin using activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) Keywords:

ARGET ATRP , methyl acrylate , glycidyl methacrylate , 1-Hexene , Control radical polymerization (CRP)