title: Acceleration and selective monomer addition during aqueous RAFT copolymerization of ionic monomers at 25 °C.
abstract: An acceleration effect and selective monomer addition during RAFT copolymerization of the oppositely-charged ionic monomers in dilute aqueous solution at 25 °C are reported. The reaction is conducted using a non-ionic water-soluble polymer as a macromolecular chain transfer agent under visible light irradiation. A fast iterative polymerization can be induced, even in dilute solution, by the favorable ionic interactions and in situ self-assembly of zwitterionic growing chains. Selelctive monomer addition is achieved in the statistical copolymerization due to the ion-pairing of the oppositely-charged monomers, such as precisely the same reaction rates at a 1:1 of monomer ratio, otherwise a faster reaction of the minor monomer component over the major one. These behaviors open up an avenue towards the rapid synthesis of sequence-controlled zwitterionic polyelectrolytes that can satisfy the demands of emerging biological applications.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
authors.forename: Guangxiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qiuping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yuanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D007477:Ions; D011108:Polymers; D014867:Water
keywords: kinetics; living polymerization; polyelectrolytes; selectivity; self-assembly