Reversible-deactivation radical polymerization mediated by CuSO sub(4).5H sub(2)O: an alternative and promising copper(ii)-based catalyst

This work demonstrated a successful example of RDRP with CuSO sub(4).5H sub(2)O as a Cu(ii) based catalyst in the presence of a reducing agent. CuSO sub(4).5H sub(2)O produced a more controllable polymerization compared with the widely used CuBr sub(2). The mechanism was revealed to be a Cu(0)-mediated RDRP with the in situgenerated Cu(0) from CuSO sub(4).5H sub(2)O as the catalyst. This work may provide an alternative, economical and promising copper(ii)-based RDRP catalyst, which would eventually enrich and benefit the RDRP technique.