Synthesis of Well-known RAFT Agent for Living Polymerization of 2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate (HEMA)

Developing new nanostructured materials, particularly supramolecular polymers, with specific properties, is at the heart of many ongoing research projects. In recent years, the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process are much more suitable technique for control radical polymerization (CRP) that produces high molecular weight (MW) polymers with a narrow polydispersity index (PDI). This polymerization technique is known as a powerful and suitable method for the polymerization of complex polymeric architectures in non-aqueous medium. One of the most widely used RAFT agents is bis(thiobenzoyl)disulfide (BTBD). This product is a suitable and effective agent for 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) polymerization. Using this RAFT agent with special properties, the polymerization conditions of HEMA proceed in such a way that it can be categorized in living polymerization. In this work, the BTBD has been synthesized, as a RAFT agent for the living polymerization of HEMA. The BTBD w:as char:acterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). In the next stage, by using this RAFT agent, polymerization of HEMA was performed via the conditions of living polymerization.