To prepare graft copolymers, group transfer polymerization (GTP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) by polymeric initiators was studied using tetrabutylammonium bifluoride as a catalyst. The polymeric initiators were obtained by the copolymerization of styrene (St) with
p-vinylphenylketene methyl trimethylsilyl acetal (VPKTMSA) or
N-trimethylsilyl
p-vinylphenyl keteneimine (TMSVPKI) containing a C-silyl derivative. The graft polymerization by the poly (St-
co-VPKTMSA) initiator was successfully carried out to give PSt-
graft-PMMA with narrow molecular weight distributions (MWD,
Mw/
Mn=1.4-1.8), and the initiator efficiency was considered to be almost quantitative. In the case of poly (St-
co-TMSVPKI) initiator, however, the results were unsatisfactory,
i. e., the initiator efficiency was low and the MWD of the graft copolymer obtained was broad. PMMA obtained by the grafting GTP was syndiotactic-rich (
e. g.,
I=5,
S=56,
H=39). These observations are similar to those for the GTP of MMA which were reported by Webster
et al.
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