Abstract
Polymerization using the characteristic features of flow microreactor systems such as fast mixing, fast heat transfer, and short residence time has attracted a great deal of attention, and extensive studies have been reported. Herein we report that the cationic polymerization of vinyl monomers can be achieved in a flow microreactor system with excellent molecular-weight distribution control without adding a capping agent, which decelerates the propagation due to the equilibrium between active and dormant species. We also report that flow microreactor systems are effective for accomplishing the controlled anionic polymerization of styrenes or alkyl methacrylates. A high level of control of the molecular weight distribution can be achieved in a flow microreactor under easily accessible conditions such as 24 to −28°C. Moreover, the efficient synthesis of well-defined polymers was successfully achieved using an integrated flow microreactor system. Diblock copolymers, triblock copolymers, and block copolymers having two different polymer chains on a silicon core were obtained with narrow molecular weight distributions.
