Novel ionic liquids as reaction medium for atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) employing ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate (EBiB)/CuBr as the initiating system was investigated at 50 °C in the absence of any additional ligand in the three room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), 1-methyl-imidazolium acetate ([mim][CH3COO]), 1-methylimidazolium propionate ([mim][CH3CH2COO]) and 1-methylimidazolium butyrate ([mim][CH3CH2CH2COO]), respectively. All the polymerization in the three RTILs proceeded in a well-controlled manner. The sequence of the apparent polymerization rate constants was kapp([mim][CH3COO]) > kapp([mim][CH3CH2COO]) > kapp ([mim][CH3CH2CH2COO]).