Riboflavin-Catalyzed Photoinduced Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Halil Ibrahim Coskun, Thomas Votruba-Drzal, Hanshu Wu, Steffen Jockusch, Gorkem Yilmaz*, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The photoATRP of methyl acrylate (MA) is investigated using riboflavin (RF) and CuBr2/Me6TREN as a dual catalyst system under green LED irradiation (λ ≈ 525 nm). Both RF and CuBr2/Me6TREN enhanced oxygen tolerance, enabling effective ATRP in the presence of residual oxygen. High molar mass polymers (up to Mn ≈ 129 000 g·mol−1) with low dispersity (Đ ≤ 1.16) are prepared, and chain-end fidelity is confirmed through successful chain extension. The molecular masses of the obtained polymer increased linearly with conversion and showed high initiation efficiency. Mechanistic studies by laser flash photolysis reveal that the predominant activator generation mechanism is reductive quenching of RF by Me6TREN (83%, under [CuBr2]/[Me6TREN] = 1/3 condition), supported by polymerization kinetics and thermodynamic calculations.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMacromolecular Chemistry and Physics
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • ATRP
  • photocatalyst
  • photopolymerization
  • riboflavin

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