Abstract
The use of CTAs for the radical polymerisation of VPA has been successfully applied for the first time. Several CTAs were investigated, including thiol, disulfide and halogenated compounds. The use of mercaptoacetic acid led to the synthesis of the mercaptan VPA monoadduct, which was attributed to a high transfer constant (CT¼ktr/kp) of approximately 7. Transfer reactions with VPA appeared to be unsuccessful when using benzyldisulfide, 1,1,1-trichloroethane and trichloroacetic acid. Application of bromotrichloromethane as a transfer agent led to the oligomerisation of VPA, with final conversion being approximately 80%. The transfer events were characterised by 13C NMR, MALDI-TOF and elemental analysis. Molecular weights of the successful VPA polymerisations showed values ranging from 600 to 5 000 g mol1, which were in close agreement with the theoretically calculated values.