A Practical Living Radical Polymerization with Sodium Iodide as a Catalyst

Goto et al. have reported a practical living radical polymerization of vinyl monomers using sodium iodide (NaI) as a catalyst. In this report, they demonstrate that an active alkyl radical is generated from 2-iodo-2-methylpropionitrile (an initiator) with NaI playing a catalytic role in the polymerization in a polyether solvent, such as 18-crown-6 ether and diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (diglyme). The polymerization of vinyl monomers with the active alkyl radicals gives polymers whose weight and their distribution are well controlled (Mw/Mn = 1.2-1.4) with high conversions in mild conditions. Furthermore, the polymerization has high monomer versatility and accessibility to a wide range of polymer architectural designs.