Synthesis and characterization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate homopolymers via aqueous RAFT polymerization and their application in miniemulsion polymerization

SummaryHomopolymers of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) have been synthesized directly in aqueous media by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) using 4,4’-azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (V501) as a water-soluble azo initiator and 4-cyanopentanoic acid dithiobenzoate (CPADB) as a chain transfer agent. The resulting polymers were controlled in the range of narrow molecular weight distributions, with lower than 1.3. Using the produced dithioester-capped DMAEMA homopolymer as a macro chain transfer agent, miniemulsion RAFT polymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene were carried out, respectively. 1H NMR analysis showed that the diblock copolymer PDMAEMA-b-PMMA in the form of stable latices was obtained as expected.