A Highly Efficient Iron‐Mediated AGET ATRP of Methyl Methacrylate Using Fe(0) Powder as the Reducing Agent

A new method, AGET ATRP mediated by an iron(III) catalyst using Fe(0) powder as a reducing agent and MMA as a model monomer, is reported. The polymerizations can be carried out in the absence or presence of a limited amount of air and show the features of a "living"/ controlled radical polymerization. MMA conversions of 90.3 and 80.0% can be obtained in 3.5 and 4.0 h in the absence/presence of a limited amount of air, respectively, for the iron-mediated AGET ATRP with a molar ratio of [MMA]0/[EBiB]0/[FeCl3 · 6H2O]0/[PPh3]0/[Fe(0)]0 = 600:1:0.5:2:0.1 at 90 °C. PMMA with molecular weights of 55 060 and 47 790 g · mol-1 and with molar-mass dispersity of 1.24 and 1.28, respectively, can be obtained correspondingly.