Living radical graft polymerization of styrene to styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) with 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl 1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO)

Well-defined graft copolymers with styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) backbones and polystyrene branches were synthesized by living free radical polymerization (LFRP) techniques. Thus 1benzoyl-2-phenyl-2-(2',2',6',6'-tetramethyl-piperidinyl-l'-oxy)ethane (BZ-TEMPO) was synthesized and hydrolyzed to the corresponding 1-hydroxyl derivative. This functional nitroxyl compound was coupled with brominated SBR (SBR-Br). The resulting macroinitiator (SBR-TEMPO) for "living" free radical polymerization was then heated in the presence of styrene for the formation of the controlled graft copolymer. H-1-NMR and IR spectroscopy were used to investigate the structure of the polymers. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.