Nitroxide-mediated radical alkoxyamine

New seven-membered diazepinone alkoxyamines 394 for nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization were prepared through the Beckmann rearrangement (equation 159). 

Fig. 46. In situ synthesis of alkoxyamine initiator during nitroxide mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of styrene.

Braslau and coworkers [83] synthesized cyclic PSTY through the combination of nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) and CuAAC click reaction. The synthesis procedure was relatively complex compared with other strategies. 1 - [4-(Chloromethyl)phenyl] ethyl alkoxyamine was used to mediate the styrene polymerization, followed by successive azidation and oxidative cleavage with ammonium cerium(IY) nitrite in the presence of propargyl alcohol. The azide and alkyne groups were then introduced to each end of the polymer. Finally, the cyclization reaction was carried out in toluene with CuBr and PMDETA as catalyst at 100°C (Scheme 35). The cyclization results showed about 64% click product, as derived from Gaussian curve fitting. 

For nitroxide-mediated radical polymerizations and in the RAFT process, the same synthetic strategy as for ATRP can be used in the synthesis of AB and ABA block copolymers. The first step is coupling a functionalized alkoxyamine with a telechelic or monofunctional nonvinylic polymer to give a macroinitiator. This macroinitiator can be used in standard controlled free-radical polymerization procedures. This approach is best illustrated by the preparation of PEO-based block copolymers [81-84]. One example is the preparation of macroinitiator LMI-7 by the reaction of a monohydroxy-terminated PEO with sodium hydride followed by reaction with the chloromethyl-substituted alkoxy amine as shown in Scheme 3.16. 

The first true stable radical-mediated polymerization method was the nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMP) discovered by Solomon, Rizzardo and Cacioli at the Commonwealth Seientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in 1985. The diseovery is reeounted in the article " of Solomon. This pioneering work, first published as a patent only, attracted broad attention in 1993 when Georges el al. reported the synthesis of polystyrene with low polydispersity via NMP of styrene mediated by TEMPO 2. Today, NMP is, by far, the most important and versatile SRMP method. It is an attractive, simple and straightforward teehnique, because typically only monomer and an appropriate alkoxyamine initiator R R NOR are needed to conduct the polymerization. 

The tendency of nitrones to react with radicals has been widely used in new synthetic routes to well-defined polymers with low polydispersity. The recent progress in controlled radical polymerization (CRP), mainly nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) (695), is based on the direct transformation of nitrones to nitroxides and alkoxyamines in the polymerization medium (696, 697). In polymer chemistry, NMP has become popular as a method for preparing living polymers (698) under mild, chemoselective conditions with good control over both, the polydispersity and molecular weight. 

Dynamic formation of graft polymers was synthesized by means of the radical crossover reaction of alkoxyamines by using the complementarity between nitroxide radical and styryl radical (Fig. 8.13) [40]. Copolymer 48 having alkoxyamine units on its side chain was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of TEMPO-based alkoxyamine monomer 47 and MMA at 50°C (Scheme 8.9). The TEMPO-based alkoxyamine-terminated polystyrene 49 was prepared through the conventional nitroxide-mediated free radical polymerization (NMP) procedure [5,41], The mixture of copolymers 48 and 49 was heated in anisole... 

Various stable radicals such as nitroxide, triazolinyl, trityl, and dithiocarbamate have been used as the mediating or persistent radical (deactivator) for SFRP. Nitroxides are generally more efficient than the others. Cyclic nitroxide radicals such as 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-l-piper-idinoxyl (TEMPO) have been extensively studied. SFRP with nitroxides is called nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP). Polymerization is carried out by two methods that parallel those used in ATRP [Bertin et al., 1998 Georges, 1993 Flawker, 1997 Flawker et al., 2001], One method involves the thermal decomposition of an alkoxyamine such as... 

Nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP) [56, 57]. This consists in a thermally reversible termination reaction by a homolytic cleavage of a C-ON bond of an alkoxyamine, giving rise to an initiating alkyl radical (active species) and a nitroxyl radical, which brings control to the reaction [58]. 

The potential for surface-initiated polymerizations using nitroxide-mediated living free radical procedures is perhaps best illustrated by the direct synthesis of dispersed nanocomposities by Sogah and Giannelis.212 In this approach the synthetic versatility of the alkoxyamine group is again exploited to... 

There are four principal mechanisms that have been put forward to achieve living free-radical polymerization (1) Polymerization with reversible termination by coupling, the best example in this class being the alkoxyamine-initiated or nitroxide-mediated polymerization, as first described by Solomon et al. (1985) (2) polymerization with reversible termination by hgand transfer to a metal complex (usually abbreviated as ATRP),(Wang and Matyjaszewski, 1995) (3) polymerization with reversible chain transfer (also termed degenerative chain transfer)-, and (4) reversible addition/ffagmentation chain transfer (RAFT). 

As a result of CMU s IP focus, 21 of the 28 issued US patents, pins several active applications, protect the fundamental ATRP process or improvements in the fundamental process, (26,27,30,33-48) while only five of the twenty eight address novel polymer compositions. (28,29,36,49,50) Nevertheless, these early material-focused patents disclose a nnmber of materials that were not prepared by other CRP procednres until a later date. The difference in numbers is due to the fact that two issued patents are directed towards improvements in nitroxide mediated polymerization. (20,51) The first discloses an atom transfer radical addition reaction to form an alkoxyamine that has fonnd nse in ATRP kinetic studies, and the other focnses on rate enhancement of a NMP. 

Careful and extensive investigations of these nitroxide-mediated polymerizations (also referred to as stable free radical polymerization) have established optimum conditions for controlled radical polymerization of a variety of vinyl monomers (Matyjaszewski, 1998,2000). Variables examined include the structure of the nitroxide and the presence of other additives to control spontaneous polymerization of monomers such as styrene. It is noteworthy that in place of alkoxyamine initiators, a mixture of a normal free radical initiator such as an azo compound or a peroxide can also be used. 

Nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) [3] and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) [4, 5] are the two main methods of CRP based on a reversible termination reaction. This corresponds to an equilibrium between the active macromolecular radical and a dormant covalent counterpart, which is either an alkoxyamine for NMP or an alkyl halide for ATRP (Fig. 1). Activation of the alkoxyamine is a thermal process and requires elevated temperatures, whereas in... 

The advent of second-generation alkoxyamines, which are suitable for the polymerization of a range of monomer families, has enabled nitroxide-mediated controlled radical polymerization to synthesize a broad range of block copolymers. 

Solomon et al. [75] first used nitroxyl radicals and alkoxyamines in a radical polymerization, but their work was limited to production of low-molecular weight polymers. In 1993, Georges et al. [76] used a mixture of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) initiator and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy (TEMPO) to produce low-polydispersity and high molecular weight polystyrene. Since then many papers about SFRP (also known as nitroxide mediated polymerization or NMP), mainly focused on styrene polymerization in the presence of TEMPO, have been published. Other nitroxide mediators are being developed that are better suited to polymerization of more polar monomers such as meth(acrylates) [77]. 

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