Living Radical Polymerization Using Ternary Initiating System

The polymer synthesis using the ternary initiating system of α"-halocarbonyl compounds / tris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium(II) dichloride (1) / aluminum isopropoxide (2) found by Sawamoto et al. is an effective method to enable exact control for the preparation of polymers with predetermined molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. For example, the synthesis of the methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymer with a controllable molecular weight distribution by using 2,2-dichloroacetophenone (3) as an
α";"-halocarbonyl compound (number average molecular weight";" M_n=10,400, molecular weight distribution";" M_w/M_n=1.15, conversion";" 93%) has been reported. Since this approach enables exact control for the preparation of polymers, it is used by many researchers.