Synthesis of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate-graft-Isobutylene) Copolymers by the Combination of Living Carbocationic and Group Transfer Polymerization

Abstract The synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate-graft-isobutylene), p(MMA-g-IB) copolymers was accomplished by group transfer copolymerization (GTP) of MMA and polyisobutenyl methacrylate (PIBMA). The PIBMA macromer was obtained by living carbocationic polymerization (LC+P) of IB using a novel functional initiator 3,3,5-trimethyl-5-chloro-1-hexyl methacrylate. Well-defined macromers with perfect functionalities were obtained in the molecular weight range of 2000 to 50,000. The PIBMA macromers were copolymerized with MMA using GTP. The structure and the properties of the resulting p(MMA-g-IB) copolymers were determined by the [MMA]/[I] and [MMA]/[PIBMA] ratios. The homopolymerization of the macromer resulted in a mixture of dimers and unreacted macromer.