Nearly Monodisperse Unimolecular Micelles via Chloro-based Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Abstract Fabrication of unimolecular micelles with uniform sizes and well-controlled structure is currently a big challenge. Herein, we report an easy-to-handle protocol for the preparation of nearly monodisperse unimolecular micelles via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) mediated by chloroacetylated initiator and chloride catalyst (Cl-ATRP). In contrast to Br-ATRP employing bromoacetylated initiator and CuBr as catalyst, Cl-ATRP can significantly suppress chain coupling during the synthesis of unimolecular micelles and result in well-defined polymers with low molar mass dispersity (Ð