Reverse Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of N-Vinylpyrrolidone in Bulk Catalyzed by AIBN)/FeCl3/ PPh3
The reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN)/FeCl3/triphenylphosphine(PPh3) as the initiating system, was successfully carried out in bulk at 80°C. Plots of In ([M]0/[M]) vs time and molecular weight evolution vs monomer conversion presented a linear dependence and the polymerization was proved to accord with the first-order kinetics. After 10 hours’ reaction, the monomer conversion was up to 84%. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used in testing the molecular weight of polymer and molecular weight distribution, the results showed that polymer molecular weight distribution was as low as 1.018 (Mn=3288 g/mol). Moreover, the resultant polymer was characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and Pyrolysis GC-MS, and the results showed that the polymerization mechanism is consistent with RATRP.