Facile, Contolled, Room-Temperature RAFT Polymerization of N-Isopropylacrylamide

Abstract

Poly (N-isopropyl acrylamide) is a thermoresponsive polymer that has been widely investigated for drug delivery. Herein, we report conditions facilitating the controlled, room-temperature RAFT polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). The key to success is the appropriate choice of both a suitable RAFT chain transfer agent (CTA) and initiating species. We show that the use of 2-dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl-sulfanyl-2-methyl propionic acid, a trithiocarbonate RAFT CTA, in conjunction with the room-temperature azo initiator 2,2′-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), in DMF, at 25 °C, yields conditions leading to NIPAM homopolymerizations which bear all of the characteristics of a controlled/"living" polymerization. We also demonstrate facile size exclusion chromatographic analysis of PNIPAM samples in DMF at 60 °C, directly on aliquots withdrawn during the polymerizations, which avoids the problems previously reported in the literature.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Drug dosage; Homopolymerization; Macromolecules; Size exclusion chromatography; Thermal effects, Chain transfer agents (CTA); Drug delivery, Organic polymers, 2,2' azobis(2,4 dimethylvaleronitrile); carbonic acid derivative; dodecyl sulfate; n,n dimethylformamide; poly(n isopropylacrylamide); thiol derivative; acrylamide derivative; azo compound; n isopropylacrylamide; N-isopropylacrylamide; propionic acid derivative, article; chemical analysis; chemical reaction; chromatography; controlled study; drug delivery system; fragmentation reaction; high temperature procedures; molecular size; polymerization; priority journal; reaction analysis; room temperature; scientific literature; chemical structure; chemistry; synthesis; temperature, Acrylamides; Azo Compounds; Dimethylformamide; Molecular Structure; Propionic Acids; Temperature

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1525-7797

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2004 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jul 2004

PubMed ID

15244427

Link to Full Text

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