Modelling and kinetics of tetrabutylammonium benzoate-catalysed group transfer polymerisation of methyl methacrylate

Group Transfer Polymerisation (GTP) is a silicon-mediated living polymerisation which can be performed over a wide range of temperatures, allows good control of molecular weight and is a good mechanism for production of block and graft copolymers. A silyl ketene acetal initiator is used to start polymerisation of acrylic or methacrylic monomers which are catalysed by nucleophilic or Lewis acid catalysts in a dry, impurity-free atmosphere. Since its discovery in 1983 by Du Pont, GTP has been ardently researched, although it has not yet been used in an industrial process due to the complicated processing involved and the high cost of initiators. [Continues.]