One-pot and One-step Cu(0)-mediated Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization of N -Isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) in Water

Copper(0)-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (Cu(0)-mediated RDRP) of the water-soluble monomer N -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) has been challenging with the problems of high dispersity, poor control over the molecular weights (MWs) or complex or multi reaction steps, etc. In this work, we report the well-controlled polymerization of NIPAM in water via a facile one-pot and one-step Cu(0)-mediated RDRP. The results of this approach show that the key for kicking off the Cu(0)-mediated NIPAM RDRPs is to ensure sufficient Cu I at the very beginning, and the key to achieve a well-controlled chain growth is to provide adequate deactivation strength during the polymerization process. For NIPAM, which has a high propagation rate constant, the deactivation control can be effectively enhanced by extra adding deactivator ( i.e. , Cu II ) to the system. Moreover, a low reaction temperature (4 °C) is necessary in the controlled synthesis of higher MW poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) to avoid the compromise in control caused by the phase transition from its lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Through this new kinetically controlled strategy, PNIPAMs with well-defined structure, narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs) and varied MWs were successfully achieved.