TY - JOUR
T1 - A Perspective on the History and Current Opportunities of Aqueous RAFT Polymerization
AU - Fortenberry, Alexander W.
AU - Jankoski, Penelope E.
AU - Stacy, Evan K.
AU - McCormick, Charles L.
AU - Smith, Adam E.
AU - Clemons, Tristan D.
N1 - Funding Information:
T.D.C. acknowledges funding support from the National Science Foundation Award No. 1757220 and would also like to thank the Director of the School of Polymer Science and Engineering, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Vice President for Research, all at the University for Southern Mississippi, for their support with generous start‐up funds.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization has proven itself as a powerful polymerization technique affording facile control of molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, architecture, and chain end groups - while maintaining a high level of tolerance for solvent and monomer functional groups. RAFT is highly suited to water as a polymerization solvent, with aqueous RAFT now utilized for applications such as controlled synthesis of ultra-high molecular weight polymers, polymerization induced self-assembly, and biocompatible polymerizations, among others. Water as a solvent represents a non-toxic, cheap, and environmentally friendly alternative to organic solvents traditionally utilized for polymerizations. This, coupled with the benefits of RAFT polymerization, makes for a powerful combination in polymer science. This perspective provides a historical account of the initial developments of aqueous RAFT polymerization at the University of Southern Mississippi from the McCormick Research Group, details practical considerations for conducting aqueous RAFT polymerizations, and highlights some of the recent advances aqueous RAFT polymerization can provide. Finally, some of the future opportunities that this versatile polymerization technique in an aqueous environment can offer are discussed, and it is anticipated that the aqueous RAFT polymerization field will continue to realize these, and other exciting opportunities into the future.
AB - Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization has proven itself as a powerful polymerization technique affording facile control of molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, architecture, and chain end groups - while maintaining a high level of tolerance for solvent and monomer functional groups. RAFT is highly suited to water as a polymerization solvent, with aqueous RAFT now utilized for applications such as controlled synthesis of ultra-high molecular weight polymers, polymerization induced self-assembly, and biocompatible polymerizations, among others. Water as a solvent represents a non-toxic, cheap, and environmentally friendly alternative to organic solvents traditionally utilized for polymerizations. This, coupled with the benefits of RAFT polymerization, makes for a powerful combination in polymer science. This perspective provides a historical account of the initial developments of aqueous RAFT polymerization at the University of Southern Mississippi from the McCormick Research Group, details practical considerations for conducting aqueous RAFT polymerizations, and highlights some of the recent advances aqueous RAFT polymerization can provide. Finally, some of the future opportunities that this versatile polymerization technique in an aqueous environment can offer are discussed, and it is anticipated that the aqueous RAFT polymerization field will continue to realize these, and other exciting opportunities into the future.
KW - aqueous RAFT
KW - biocompatible polymerization
KW - bioconjugation
KW - controlled radical polymerization
KW - photopolymerization
KW - polymerization induced self-assembly
KW - water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133940220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/marc.202200414
DO - 10.1002/marc.202200414
M3 - Article
C2 - 35822936
AN - SCOPUS:85133940220
SN - 1022-1336
VL - 43
JO - Macromolecular Rapid Communications
JF - Macromolecular Rapid Communications
IS - 24
M1 - 2200414
ER -