Preparation of fluorinated methacrylic copolymers by copper mediated living radical polymerization

The synthesis of fluorinated macroinitiators and macromonomers for copper mediated living radical polymerization is reported. In a first approach, various fluorinated telomers showing one or two hydroxy groups are transformed into initiators via esterification. The resultant macroinitiators are used for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) to give well-defined block copolymers. In a second approach, the same telomers were transformed into methacrylic monomers and subsequently polymerised using living radical polymerization. In both cases, the final products of polymerization show molecular weights close to expected, assuming living polymerization, with polydispersities of approximately 1.1–1.2.