Pseudo-living radical polymerization using triarylmethane as the thermal iniferter

Triphenylmethane (TPM) was used as the initiator–transfer–terminator agent (iniferter) for the pseudo-living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in cyclohexanone (CHO) for the first time. The pseudo-living radical polymerization of styrene is also investigated for comparison. The polymerizations both exhibit a linear increase of number molecular weight (Mn) with conversion and the obtained polymer can be utilized as a macroinitiator for the successful chain extension. Other factors such as polymerization temperature and the molar ratio of monomer-to-iniferter were investigated and the polymerization results also showed pseudo-living characteristics. Furthermore, other triarylmethanes with substituents, such as tris-(p-acetylphenyl) methane (TAcPM) and tris-(p-carboxyphenyl) methane (TCOPM), were also employed. The results further confirmed that the other compounds with similar structure can also be used as the iniferter.