Polymerization of vinyl ethers initiated by dendritic cations using flow microreactors

Cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers initiated by an electrogenerated dendritic diarylcarbenium ion in the presence of 2,6-di-tert-butylpyridine was developed using a flow microreactor. The carbocationic polymer end generated by polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether was effectively trapped by various nucleophiles such as trimethyl(1-phenylvinyloxy)silane and allyltrimethylsilane to give polymers with very narrow molecular weight distribution. The block copolymerization of two vinyl ethers followed by trapping with nucleophiles was successfully accomplished to give structurally well-defined macromolecules. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.