Controlled synthesis of oligomeric poly(acrylic acid) and its behavior in aqueous solutions

The controlled synthesis of oligomeric poly(acrylic acid) via the pseudoliving radical reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization of acrylic acid in bulk is developed. It is shown that, at high concentrations of reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer agents, the polymerization of acrylic acid in bulk occurs via the pseudoliving mechanism, as evidenced by a linear increase in the numberaverage molecular mass of oligomers with conversion and a narrow molecular-mass distribution of the reaction products. The surfactant properties and behavior of the oligomers in aqueous solutions are studied.