1,1-diphenyl ethylene-mediated radical polymerisation: a general non-metal-based technique for the synthesis of precise core cross-linked star polymers.

This communication details the successful synthesis of low polydispersity core cross-linked star (CCS) polymers via DPE-mediated polymerisation. We demonstrate the ability to produce poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(acrylonitrile) CCS polymers that are currently inaccessible via the two most common non-metal-based controlled radical polymerisation techniques (NMP and RAFT polymerisations).