Iron-catalyzed AGET ATRP of methyl methacrylate using an alcohol as a reducing agent in a polar solvent.

The alcohols, methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol (EG), and glycerol, were used as reducing agents for iron(III)-catalyzed activators generated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerizations (AGET ATRPs) of methyl methacrylate in polar solvents (N,N-dimethylformamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, or acetonitrile). The effects of the iron catalyst, initiator and alcohol on polymerization were investigated, and most of the systems showed the typical features of controlled radical polymerization. In studies of the ATRP behavior, polymerizations were well controlled with a linear increase in the molecular weight (Mn) versus conversion in agreement with the theoretical one, and low molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn) were observed throughout the reactions. To gain a deeper understanding of the iron(III)/polar solvent-mediated ATRP, the polymerizations of various monomers (methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate, and n-butyl methacrylate) were also investigated.