Tempo-mediated free radical

Chen YM, Wulff G (2001) Synthesis of poly(styryl sugar)s by TEMPO mediated free radical polymerization. Macromol Chem Phys 202(17) 3426-3431... 

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... 

The last decades have witnessed the emergence of new living Vcontrolled polymerizations based on radical chemistry [81, 82]. Two main approaches have been investigated the first involves mediation of the free radical process by stable nitroxyl radicals, such as TEMPO while the second relies upon a Kharash-type reaction mediated by metal complexes such as copper(I) bromide ligated with 2,2 -bipyridine. In the latter case, the polymerization is initiated by alkyl halides or arenesulfonyl halides. Nitroxide-based initiators are efficient for styrene and styrene derivatives, while the metal-mediated polymerization system, the so called ATRP (Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization) seems the most robust since it can be successfully applied to the living Vcontrolled polymerization of styrenes, acrylates, methacrylates, acrylonitrile, and isobutene. Significantly, both TEMPO and metal-mediated polymerization systems allow molec-... 

The inclusion of stable free radicals such as TEMPO (18, TO ) in free radical polymerizations leads to precise control of chain length by restricting the number of polymerizing chains (equation 96). This process is known as nitroxyl radical mediated polymerization (NRMP). 

Chloromethyl polystyrene can be converted to a free-radical initiator by reaction with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpipcridinc-/V-oxyl (TEMPO). Radical polymerization of various substituted alkenes on this resin has been used to prepare new types of polystyrene-based supports [123]. Alternatively, cross-linked vinyl polystyrene can be copolymerized with functionalized norbornene derivatives by ruthenium-mediated ringopening metathesis polymerization [124],... 

Narrow distribution in the backbone length as well as in the chemical composition or the branch frequency may be expected from a living-type copolymerization between a macromonomer and a comonomer provided the reactivity ratios are close to unity. This appears to have been accomplished to some extent with anionic copolymerizations with MMA of methacrylate-ended PMMA, 29, and poly(dimethylsiloxane) macromonomers, 30, which were prepared by living GTP and anionic polymerization, respectively [50,51]. Recent application [8] of nitroxide (TEMPO)-mediated living free radical process to copolymerizations of styrene with some macromonomers such as PE-acrylate, la, PEO-methacr-ylate, 27b, polylactide-methacrylate, 28, and poly(e-caprolactone)-methacrylate, 31, may be a promising approach to this end. 

The nitroxyls (a.k.a. nitroxides) are remarkably stable free radicals. Nitroxyls have two major resonance structures, one N-centered and one O-centered the lone electron may also be considered to be in the 7T orbital of an N=0 tt bond. Nitroxyls are thermodynamically stable because dimerization would give a very weak N-N, N-O, or 0-0 bond. TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylgiperidin-l-oxyl), a commercially available nitroxyl, is further stabilized by steric shielding. Other thermodynamically stable free radicals include the small molecules O2 (a 1,2-diradical, best represented as -0-0-) and nitric oxide ( N=0), a messenger molecule in mammals that mediates smooth muscle contraction. 

Alternative bimolecular methods have been reported that involve mixing appropriate ratios of monomer with free-radical initiators (such as benzoyl peroxide) and an excess of the nitroxide stable free-radical moiety. Such bimolecular methods do not afford the same degree of control of molecular weight and polydispersity since the stoichiometry of the mediating system cannot be accurately dehned, which is a crucial factor in these controlled polymerization systems. A wide variety of unimolecular nitroxide based initiator systems have been described in the literature with those based upon the 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-l-oxy (TEMPO) group proving to be the most commonly used. 

Since TEMPO is only a regulator, not an initiator, radicals must be generated from another source the required amount of TEMPO depends on the initiator efficiency. Application of alkoxyamines (i.e., unimolecular initiators) allows for stoichiometric amounts of the initiating and mediating species to be incorporated and enables the use of multifunctional initiators, growing chains in several directions [61]. Numerous advances have been made in both the synthesis of different types of unimolecular initiators (alkoxyamines) that can be used not only for the polymerization of St-based monomers, but other monomers as well [62-69]. Most recently, the use of more reactive alkoxyamines and less reactive nitroxides has expanded the range of polymerizable monomers to acrylates, dienes, and acrylamides [70-73]. An important issue is the stability of nitroxides and other stable radicals. Apparently, slow self-destruction of the PRE helps control the polymerization [39]. Specific details about use of stable free radicals for the synthesis of copolymers can be found in later sections. 

Free-radical polymerization mediated by stable nitroxyl radicals like TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-l-oxy) (Fig. 6.23) is a simple and robust method to synthesize homopolymers and random and block copolymers with narrow poly-dispersities and/or controlled chain architectures. A key to the success of this polymerization is believed to be the reversible combination of a polymer radical, P , with a stable nitroxyl radical, N, to form an adduct, P-N, which is a dormant species ... 

Another interesting use of TEMPO has been in free-radical substitution of alkyl halides. In this reaction, halides react with tributyltin hydride and TEMPO to yield A-alkoxyamine substitution products [18. This reaction is especially attractive in cases where anionic nucleophiles are sterically prevented from carrying out substitution reactions. An example of this can be seen in Barrett s synthesis of sucrose [18b], in which a stereoselective iodoetherification reaction was used to produce neopentyl alkyl iodide 13 (Scheme 5). Free radical substitution mediated by tributyltin hydride and TEMPO yielded A-alkoxyamine 14. The mechanism [19] involves TEMPO abstraction of hydrogen from tributyltin hydride [20] the stannyl radical then abstracts iodide from the substrate, and a second equivalent of TEMPO traps the resulting carbon radical. 

Dissociation-combination living polymerizations are typified by nitroxide-mediated polymerizations, the first example of which used 2,2,6,6 tetramethyl piperidinyl-1-oxy (TEMPO) as the mediating stable free radical. The reaction steps for the polymerization of styrene, using benzoyl peroxide as the initiator, are given below. 

Shim, S.E. Oh, S. Chang, Y.H. Jin, M.J. Choe, S. Solvent effect on TEMPO-mediated living free radical dispersion polymerization of styrene. Polymer 2004, 45 (14), 4731-4739. 

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