Microwave-assisted nitroxide-mediated polymerization of alkyl acrylates

Nitroxide-mediated polymerizations of methyl and tert-butyl acrylate were performed in a single-mode microwave reactor at 120°C. The polymerizations could be carried out in a controlled way in concentrated solution (approx. 50 wt.-% of monomer) up to monomer conversions of around 90%. Monomer conversion followed first-order kinetics in the case of tert-butyl acrylate. For methyl acrylate, it seems that the kinetics obeyed the persistent radical effect. The polymers obtained from this controlled radical polymerization technique exhibited narrow molecular weight distributions (indicated by polydispersity indices below 1.3).