AGET ATRP of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by FeCl3/iminodiacetic acid in the presence of air

The recently developed living free-radical polymerization system, atom transfer radical polymerization using activators generated by electron transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP), was used for methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization in the presence of a limited amount of air, using a novel catalyst system based on iron (FeCl3) complexes with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and using ascorbic acid (VC) as a reducing agent. The kinetics of AGET ATRPs of MMA with different amounts of VC in the presence of air was investigated. The results of the polymerizations demonstrated the features of “living”/controlled free-radical polymerization such as the number-average molecular weights increasing linearly with monomer conversion and narrow molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn = 1.31-1.44).