News Production & Lab
New troponoid-mediated strategy for radical polymerisation in water
Researchers have developed a method using troponoids as mediators in radical polymerisation. This enables the production of polymers such as PVP, HEA and DMA in aqueous media and allows the formation of block copolymers.
Controlled radical polymerisation in aqueous systems remains a major challenge in polymer chemistry. A team from Taiwan has now introduced a new approach: troponoids can act as mediators in polymerisation, providing a largely controlled process for N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and N,N-dimethyl acrylamide (DMA).
The method exhibits living polymerisation features such as a linear increase in molecular weight with monomer conversion and the successful synthesis of block copolymers. However, the relatively high dispersity observed indicates that the reaction is only partially controlled.
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Testing various troponoids
The researchers investigated tropone (TP) and its derivatives tropolone (TP-OH), 2-chlorotropolone (TP-Cl) and 2-methoxytropolone (TP-OMe) to optimise the reaction conditions. Using this strategy, block copolymers such as PDMA-b-PVP and PHEA-b-PVP were obtained.
Mechanistic insights and kinetic data were generated through a combination of NMR analysis, chain extension experiments, UV/Vis spectroscopy and computational simulations. The study highlights the versatility of troponoids in enabling controlled radical polymerisation in aqueous environments.
Source: Chang, I.-H. et al., Troponoid-mediated radical polymerisation in aqueous medium. Polymer Chemistry, Issue 34 (2025).
