Visible light‐induced RAFT polymerization of methacrylates with benzaldehyde derivatives as organophotoredox catalysts

The benzaldehyde derivatives, such as 2,4-dimethoxy benzaldehyde (PC1) and p-anisaldehyde (PC2), were successfully used as photoredox catalysts (PCs) in combination with typical RAFT agent 4-cyano-4-(phenylcarbonothioylthio)pentanoic acid (CTP) for the controlled photoinduced electron transfer RAFT polymerization (PET-RAFT) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and benzyl methacrylate (BnMA) at room temperature. The kinetics of the polymerizations showed first order with respect to monomer conversions. Besides, the average number molecular weights (Mn) of the produced polymers increased linearly with the monomer conversions and kept relatively narrow polydispersity (PDI = Mw/Mn). For example, the Mn of PMMA increased from about 3400 to 17,300 g mol−1 with the increasing in monomer conversion from 11% to 85%, and the PDI maintained around 1.36. The living features of polymerizations with the PC1 and PC2 as catalysts have also been further supported by chain extension and synthesis of PMMA-b-PBnMA diblock copolymer. As a result, the simplicity and efficiency of benzaldehyde derivatives catalyzed PET-RAFT polymerization have been demonstrated under mild conditions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017