Use of Yb-based catalyst for AGET ATRP of acrylonitrile to simultaneously control molecular mass distribution and tacticity.

Yb-based catalyst was used for the first time for atom transfer radical polymerization using activators generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) with 2-bromopropionitrile (BPN) as initiator, 2, 2'-bipyridine (bipy) as ligand, and tisn(II) bis(2-ethylhexanoate) (Sn(EH)2) as reducing agent in the presence of air. With respect to AGET ATRP of AN catalyzed by CuBr2, an evident increase of polymer tacticity was observed for AGET ATRP of AN. The increase of syndiotacticity became more and more pronounced than the increase of isotacticity of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) along with YbBr3 content. The block copolymer PAN-b-PMMA with molecular weight at 60,000 and polydispersity at 1.36 was successfully prepared.