The effect of reducing monosaccharides on the atom transfer radical polymerization of butyl methacrylate

The effect of various reducing monosaccharides on the rate of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of butyl methacrylate is reported in this study. The addition of reducing sugars affects the rate of ATRP positively with a 100% increase in the rate of polymerization in some cases. In addition, these organic reducing agents have little effect on the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of poly(butyl methacrylate) with polydispersity indexes that remain well below 1.2. A possible explanation for these observations is the ability of the reducing sugars to reduce part of the Cu2+ species, which deactivate the growing radicals, to Cu1+, thereby ensuring a shift in the equilibrium between active and dormant chains in the direction of the former with a resulting increase in the rate of reaction.