Living polymerizations of acrylic monomers with aluminioporphyrin

Abstract

Abstract Aluminioporphyrin was found to be an excellent initiator for the living polymerizations of methacrylates, acrylates, and methacrylonitrile. Porphinatoaluminium thiolate and enolate were effective in the dark, different from methylporphinatoaluminium which requires irradiation by visible light. The addition of pyridine was necessary for the polymerization of methacrylonitrile, which was accelerated by visible light. By using the living polymer of methyl methacrylate as initiator, block copolymers from acrylic monomers could be synthesized. A system composed of aluminioporphyrin and trialkylaluminium was found highly active for the polymerization of methacrylates.